BF 1591 
.T3 
1916a 
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STUDIES IN MAGIC 
FKOM LATIN LITEEATURE 



BY 

EUGENE TAVENNER 



Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements 

fob the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, in the 

Faculty of Philosophy, Columbia University 



jgeto gork 

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS 
1916 



Columbia WLnibtzzity 

STUDIES IN CLASSICAL PHILOLOGY 



STUDIES IN MAGIC 
FROM LATIN LITERATURE 



COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS 
SALES AGENTS 

New York: 

LEMCKE & BUECHNER 

30-32 West 27th Street 

London: 

HUMPHREY MILFORD 

Amen Corner, E.C. 



STUDIES IN MAGIC 
FROM LATIN LITERATURE 



BY 

EUGENE TAVENNER 



Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements 

for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, in the 

Faculty of Philosophy, Columbia University 



COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS 
1916 



< 



W v 



Copyright, 1916 
By Columbia University Press 



Printed from type, October, 1916 



DEC 15 



NOTE 

This monograph has been approved by the Department of Clas- 
sical Philology of Columbia University as a contribution to 
knowledge worthy of publication. 

CLARENCE H. YOUNG. 

Chairman. 



PREFACE 

Although references to magic are found in almost every 
Latin author, there is not available in English any general 
treatment of the subject of Magic in Latin Literature. We 
have, it is true, excellent chapters by Fowler, 1 Dill, 2 Cumont, 3 
and others, touching upon Roman magic; but these scholars 
treat the subject rather because of its important relation to 
some other field of investigation than for its own sake. 

This dissertation will attempt, therefore, first, to furnish 
a general introduction to Roman magic, especially as reflected 
in Latin literature; and then, to add, as a specimen of de- 
tailed study, a chapter on Roman prophylactic magic. To 
this beginning I hope to add, later, chapters on various phases 
of the same subject, such as, Magic and Curative Medicine, 
The Number Three in Magic, and Spitting as an Act of Magic. 

By way of further delimitation it may be added that Greek 
literature has been drawn upon only where it bears directly 
upon our discussion, and that no exhaustive collection of the 
material of Latin literature itself has been attempted beyond 
the third century of our era. 4 I have been compelled, also, 
through lack of space and time, to ignore practically all epi- 
graphical and archaeological material. 

1 The Religious Experience of the Roman People, Chapters 2 and 3. 

2 Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius, 443-483. 

3 Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism, the chapter entitled Astrology 
and Magic, 162-195. 

4 To this one important exception has been made in the case of 
Marcellus Empiricus. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Introduction to the Study op Roman Magic . . . 1-60 

The Meaning of MdYos, Mayela, Magus and Magicus . . 1 

Definition of Magic 5 

Magic Distinguished from Science 8 

Magic Distinguished from Astrology . 10 

Magic Distinguished from Superstition . . . ., 11 

Magic Distinguished from Religion . . . . . . 11 

The Legal Aspect of Magic and Religion ..... 12 

Formal Latin Treatises upon Occult Subjects .... 17 

The Source, Antiquity, and Prevalence of Italian Magic . 19 

The Attitude of Latin Authors toward Magic .... 25 

Agricultural Writers .......... 26 

Dramatic Writers 28 

Writers on Philosophy 29 

The Lyric and Elegiac Poets 33 

The Satirists 37 

The Writers of Prose Romances 40 

The Historians 45 

The Encyclopaedists 54 

Conclusion 60 

II. Magic and the Prevention of Disease .... 61-123 

Medical Magic and Religion 61 

The Gods as Workers of Magic 61 

Deification of Diseases . 67 

Medical Magic Versus Scientific Medicine 70 

Medical Magic Universal among the Early Romans . 70 
Early Magic Cures not Entirely Displaced by Greek 

Scientific Medicine 73 

Preventive or Prophylactic Magic . . . . . . .76 

A. The Amulet 76 

Definition of an Amulet 77 

Names Given to Amulets by Latin Authors ... 79 

Antiquity and Continued Use of Amulets in Italy . 80 

Diseases Prevented by the Use of Amulets ... 84 

ix 



X CONTENTS 

II. Magic and the Prevention of Disease — Continued. page 

Materials of Amulets 96 

Inscriptions on Medical Amulets 100 

Other Details in the Preparation of Medical Amulets . 101 

Where were Medical Amulets Worn? 102 

Amulet Containers 103 

B. Prophylactic Magic by Means other than 

Amulets 105 

Diseases Prevented 106 

Materials used in Magic Prophylaxis apart from the 

Use of Amulets 110 

C. Sympathia the Basis of Prophylactic Magic . 113 

Sympathia Essential to Amulets 113 

Based on Various Associations of Ideas .... 113 

Bibliography 125 

Index Rerum 129 

Index Locorum . 141 



STUDIES IN MAGIC 
FROM LATIN LITERATURE 



STUDIES IN MAGIC 
FEOM LATIN LITEKATUKE 

CHAPTER I 
INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ROMAN MAGIC 

I. The Meaning of MdTos, Mcryeta, magus, and magicus 

Neither fiayos nor fiayeia is found in Homer, 1 though refer- 
ences to magic are numerous. 2 Apparently the first reference 
in Greek literature to the nayoi 3 occurs in Herodotus, who 
tells us that they were a Median tribe. 4 They formed a priestly 
caste, 5 resembling that of the Jewish Levites, were the leaders 
in wisdom and in the education of the royal household, 6 and 

1 Cf. August Gehring, Index Homericus (Leipzig, 1891), s. w. nayos 
and fiayeia. 

2 Cf. Pliny, N. H. 30.. 5; Iliad 7, 193-196, with Leaf's excellent note: 
11, 740-741: 12, 254-255: 13, 434-435: 15, 321-322: 24, 343-345 (magic 
strokes used by the gods): 14, 214-221 (magic girdles): 16, 235: 23, 
135-136; Od. 10, 235 ff.; infra, 19, n. 97. 

3 For the derivation of the word cf. A. Vanicek, Fremdworter im 
Griechischen und Lateinischen, s. v. nayoi) Leo Meyer, Handbuch der 
Griechischen Etymologie, 4, 318, s. v. ixayos) Emile Boisacq, Dictionnaire 
etymologique de la langue grecque, s. v. nayoi. 

4 Herodotus, 1, 101. The word is found somewhat earlier in Persian. 
The great inscription of Behistun contains seven instances of the nomina- 
tive magus, and five instances of the accusative. 

5 Cf. Strabo, 16, 762; Lucian, Mcucp6/Stot 4; Xenophon, Cyrop. 8, 1, 23; 
Clitarchus, apud Diog. Laert., Vit. Phil., Proem. 6; Hesychius, s. v. 
nayos; Apuleius, Apol. 25. 

6 Cf. Apuleius, De Plat. 1, 3; Plato, Ale. 121E-122A; Cicero, Div. 1, 
46; 90-91: Fin. 5, 87: Leg. 2, 26; Valerius Maximus, 8, 7, Ext. 2. 



2 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

were expert in divination 7 and astrology ; 8 but were not at 
all acquainted with what the Greeks called yorjTela, or what 
is now generally known as magic. 9 

These nayoi, under the leadership of a certain Osthanes, 
accompanied the army of Xerxes into Greece, 10 where their 
unhallowed association with the invader, together with their 
knowledge of the occult influences of the stars, reduced them 
in the esteem of fifth century Greeks from the position of most 
influential religious and educational advisers to that of cheats, 
rascals, and tricksters. 11 

But Euripides is familiar with the word ixayoi also as applied 
to those who possess preternatural control over natural phe- 
nomena, since he mentions a disappearance that was effected 
f/roi (^ap/jLCLKOLatv fj ixayoiv Tkxv&iGiv rj Oe&v kXottols. 12 By Plato's 
time the word fiayos had become so common in the meaning 
of 'a controller of natural phenomena' that Plato dares to 
use it in a metaphorical sense, calling certain desires 'those 
dire magicians and tyrant-makers.' 13 Finally, Lucian uses 
the word freely of a sorcerer or sorceress. 14 There seems there- 

7 Cf. Clitarchus, apud Diog. Laert., Vit. Phil., Proem. 6; Cicero, Div. 1, 
46-47; VeUeius Paterculus, 2, 24, 3; Pliny, N. H. 24, 164; Varro, apud 
Augustinum, C. D. 7, 35. 

8 Cf. Valerius Maximus, 8, 7, Ext. 2; Suidas, s. v. yvqrda. 

9 Aristotelis Frag., apud Diog. Laert., Vit. Phil., Proem. 1 (ed. Rose 
LLeipzig 1886J, 44) rrjv 8e yoTjTtK-qv payelav oi>5' tyvoxrav, <ptfalv 'ApHrrorkXiis 
kv tQ fj.ayiK& nal AeLvcov kv r% Trep.irTjj r&v % Io~ropu»)P. 

10 Cf. Pliny, N. H. 30, 8; Alfred Maury, Magie, 61 and references there 
given. For Osthanes cf. infra, 20 and n. 99. 

11 Cf . Sophocles, Oed. Tyr. 387 fleets nayov Toidvde, p.rix<ivoppa<f>ov ... J 
Aeschines, In Ctes. 137 'AXX' olp.ai oire $pvvwvdas ovre EbpvfiaTos oJ5t' 
fiXXos oi)8eis tt6}ttot€ t&v 7rdXcu Trovr\p&v tolovtos p.dyos ical 7617s kykvero. 

12 Orest. 1497 £f. 

13 Repub. 9, 572E orav 8' eXiriauatv oi Sewol p.ayoi re nal rvpavvoiroiol 
ovtol p.ij aXXws top vkov Kade^eiv. . . . 

14 Lucian, Luc. sive As., 4 p,dyos yap kern Beivrj. . . . Cf. Demonax 
23 'AXXd Kal p.ayov twos elvai \kyovros Kai kwtpdas ix* LV to"xupds, ws vir* avr&v 
airavras avairtideiv /ecu irapexew aiiTip b-jroaa fiovXerai, Mi) flaii/iafe, <e<f>rj. 



INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ROMAN MAGIC 6 

fore to have been a natural transition in the meaning of the 
word among the Greeks from that of priest to that of trickster, 
and then to that of one who controls natural phenomena; or, 
in other words, to our conception of a magician in the darker 
meaning of the English word. We may be reasonably certain 
also that in popular usage the word /xdyos had come to mean 
' magician' rather than 'Magian' before the literary usage 
makes such a development apparent. 15 

We turn now to the word nayela. It is certain that Plato 
used it in the sense of 'the Magian philosophy and religion. ' 16 
Aristotle, however, by using the words yorjTucr} ixayda, clearly 
indicates that, by his time, the words yorjTeia and fiayda had 
approached each other in meaning so closely that yovrela was 
considered a species of fxayela. 17 The development in meaning 
is apparently carried one step further by Theophrastus, the 
successor of Aristotle, who uses the word ixayda without any 
limiting adjective in the sense of yorjTeia. 18 That a leading 
Greek philosopher in the early part of the third century B.C. 
used the word ixayela in the sense of 'magic' is a further proof 
that the word Lidyos had also by his time come to mean a 
'magician.' 

A distinction seems to have been made, however, by the 
philosophers, after the time of Socrates, between ixayeia and 
yor\rda, upon the assumption that, whereas both nayela and 

15 The meaning 'Magian' seems entirely to have disappeared from 
popular Greek usage by the fourth century of our era. In Hesychius, 
S. V. fiayos, ixayov • top &7rareaVa • <papp.aKevTifv. tov deoae^fj, ical deoXoyov, 
Kal lepka, ol II epa at ovtois \kyovcnv, . . . the Greek and the Persian meanings 
are contrasted. 

16 Alcib. 122A *&p 6 pikv p.aydav re 5i5do7cec T-qv ZaipoaaTpov rod 'ftpo/iafou. 

17 Cf. the fragment quoted in n. 9. 

18 Hist. Plant. 9, 15, 7 (he is speaking of the herb moly): xpyvOai dk 
aurqJ irpos re ra &Xel-i<p6.pfjiaKa /cat t&s piayeias. This is the only citation for 
/ua7eia given in Wimmer's Index to Theophrastus (Paris, 1866), notwith- 
standing the 'etc.' of L. and S. s. v. fxayela. 



4 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

yoTjrela employed daiftoves, or subservient minor divinities, the 
former employed only good dalfxoves to accomplish good deeds, 
whereas the latter employed evil dalfMoves to accomplish evil 
deeds, through the evocation of spirits. 19 Such a finely drawn 
distinction should of course not be looked for in popular usage. 

The development of meaning in the Greek word nayos is 
duplicated in that of the Latin word magus. The earlier 
meaning of the Latin word, i.e. in its application to the re- 
ligious system of the Persian Magi, is, however, found only 
in Latin religio-philosophical writings, or in passing remarks 
of a quasi-historical character. 20 In contrast to this we find 
in the Latin authors countless instances of magus with the 
meaning ' magician,' not 'Magian.' 21 It is worthy of note 
also that there is not a single instance in Latin literature, so 

19 Cf. Plato, SympOS. 202E Aid tovtov /cat rj p.outiktj iraaa x^P" (sc. 
"Epcort dal/jLovi) /cat 17 r&v iepkcov rkxyf\ t&v ft irepi ras dvalas . . . /cat rijv 

navrdav iraaav /cat yorjTelav; Apuleius, De Deo Socrat. 6, 133 Per hos eosdem 
(i.e. 8al/jLovas), ut Plato in Symposio autumat, cuncta demmtiata et ma- 
gorum varia miracula . . . reguntur. (This passage is commented upon 
by St. Augustine, C. D. 8, 16). Cf. also Apuleius, Apol. 26, quoted infra, 5. 

Suidas, S. V. pay ela, has: kir'iKkrjals kari 8aip.6va)v ayadoiroiSiv wpbs ay ado v 
tlvos crvcrraaLV, cbs ra rod 'AwoWowiov tov Tuai'ecos dtairiaixara' yorjreia 8h 
kirlic\r]<Tls kcrri daifjLOPiav KaKOTcoi&v irepi tovs tclQovs yivop.kvt\. See also Suidas, 
S. V. yorjTela. 

20 Cf., e.g., Apuleius, Apol. 25-26. This passage contains a clear presen- 
tation of the philosophic, as distinguished from the popular, conception of 
a magus. Cf. id., De Plat. 1, 3; Cicero, Div. 1, 46; 90-91: Fin. 5, 87: Leg. 
2, 26: Tusc. Disp. 1, 108: Nat. Deor. 1, 43; Valerius Maximus, 8, 7, Ext. 
2; Velleius Paterculus, 2, 24, 3; Lucan, 3, 223-224: 8, 220; Varro, apud 
August., C. D. 7, 35. 

21 See, for example, Horace, Carm. 1, 27, 22; Ovid, Med. Fac. 36; 
Lucan, 6, 431; 440; 450; 577; 767; Pliny, N. H. (instances are too 
numerous to cite; but cf. Ian's index to Pliny, s. v. magi); Tacitus, Ann. 
2, 27; 32: 6, 29: 12, 22; Apuleius, De Deo Socrat. 6: Met. 2, 5: 6, 16; 
Scriptores Historiae Augustae, Did. Iul. 7; Augustinus, De Divers. 
Quaest. 79, 4; Pseudo-Vergilius, Ciris 374; Pseudo-Quintilian, Decl. 
Maior. 10, passim. Cf. also the use of magus as an adjective, Ovid, Amor. 
1, 8, 5; Seneca, Here. Oet. 467. 



INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ROMAN MAGIC 5 

far as I have been able to discover, of the use of the word magia 
with reference to the Persian Magian system of religion and 
philosophy. 22 Of the very numerous instances of the adjective 
magicus, only one is even possibly to be referred to the Magi. 23 
It is quite apparent, therefore, that to the average Roman magus 
meant 'magician/ magia meant 'magic' (noun), and magicus 
meant 'magic' (adjective); though some few learned writers 
persisted at all times in using the first of these terms in its 
earlier and historically correct sense of 'Magian.' In fact, this 
popular conception of magic is expressly stated by Apuleius 24 to 
have been in strong contrast with the proper conception of the 
priestly Magi. 

II. Definition of Magic 

Since it is with this popular conception of the terms magus, 
magia, and magicus among the Romans that we are concerned, 
we shall first turn to the Latin authors themselves for their 
definition of magic, Pliny the Elder, who is our most impor- 
tant source of information upon Roman magic, says : 25 

Auctoritatem ei (i.e. arti magicae fraudulentissimae) maximam 
fuisse nemo miretur, quandoquidem sola artium tres alias imperiosis- 
simas humanae mentis complexa in unam se redegit. Natam primum 
e medicina nemo dubitabit ac specie salutari inrepsisse velut altiorem 
sanctioremque medicinam, ita blandissimis desideratissimisque pro- 
missis addidisse vires religionis, ad quas maxime etiam nunc caligat 
humanum genus, atque, ut hoc quoque successerit, miscuisse artes 
mathematicas, nullo non avido futura de sese sciendi atque ea e caelo 
verissime peti credente. 

Apuleius writes : 26 

Sin vero more vulgari eum isti proprie magum existimant, qui com- 
munione loquendi cum deis immortalibus ad omnia quae velit incredi- 
bilia quadam vi cantaminum polleat. . . . 

22 Cf. Apuleius, Apol. passim: Met. 6, 26; Augustinus, C. D. 10, 9. 

23 Justinus, 36, 2, 7. 25 N. H. 30, 1-2. 

24 Apol. 26, quoted infra. 26 Apol. 26. 



6 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

Pseudo-Quintilian, in describing a magician, uses these 
words: 27 

Advocatur homo cuius ars est ire contra naturam. Qui, simul ore 
squalido barbarum murmur intonuit, favere superos, audire inferos, 
tremere terras, ut experimentis loquentium fama est, constitit iuxta 
tumulum miserrimi iuvenis mors certior. 

And again: 28 

At tu, cuius in leges di superi manesque torquentur, qui nocturno 
terribilis ululatu profundum specus et ima terrarum moves, modo 
serventium revocator animarum. . . . 

The attitude of the Christian Fathers is similar; compare, e.g., 
St. Augustine: 29 

Quapropter aliter magi faciunt miracula, aliter boni Christiani. 
. . . Magi per privatos contractus, boni Christiani per publicam 
iustitiam. . . . 

From the foregoing passages one may obtain a composite 
but satisfactory idea of the Roman conception of magic. 
'It is,' says Pliny, 'a very deceptive, and yet very powerful 
art, compounded of elements drawn from medicine, religion, 
and astrology.' The religious element, according to the more 
specific definition of Apuleius, is the most important source 
of the magician's power. It is the result of a communio be- 
tween him and the gods, established by means of magic spells, 
and through this communio the magician obtains whatever 
he may wish. Still more definitely we learn from Pseudo- 
Quintilian that through the medium of this communio the 
magician has the power of compelling the gods to do his will, 

27 Declam. Maior. 10, 15. 

28 Declam. Maior. 10, 19. 

29 De Divers. Quaest. 79, 4. See also Minucius Felix, Octav. 26, 10: 
Magi quoque non tantum sciunt daemonas, sed etiam, quicquid miraculi 
ludunt, per daemonas faciunt: illis adspirantibus et infundentibus prae- 
stigias edunt, vel quae non sunt videri, vel quae sunt non videri. 



INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ROMAN MAGIC 7 

and that, in addition, he controls the earth, stars, rivers, and 
the spirits of the dead by his incantations. This power of 
control is called 'going against nature/ or exerting a supremacy 
over natural forces and phenomena. Such a control of nature 
differs, however, from Christian miracles, according to St. 
Augustine, in that magicians act through a private agreement 
with demons for personal gain, whereas good Christians per- 
form miracles from a love of right in general. We may there- 
fore say that a cultured Roman would have defined magic 
as an art based on medicine, astrology, and religion, whereby 
man attempts to control the gods and thereby to control 
natural phenomena in accordance with his own selfish desires. 30 
This definition, deduced from the Latin authors themselves, 
does not differ materially from that of other modern students 
of magic. Fowler, 31 for instance, defines magic as "the exer- 
cise of a mysterious mechanical power by an individual on 
man, spirit, or deity, to enforce a certain result." Another 
definition runs: 32 "(Magic is) the art, or pretended art, of 
controlling occult forces and of producing effects contrary to 
the known order of nature." Westermarck 33 appears to define 

30 I am not unaware that it may seem illogical to derive a definition 
from so many different sources; but, when we consider that we are deal- 
ing with folk belief and practice, a phase of human mental life that shows 
very little variation as a result either of time or of place, neither the few 
centuries that separate Pliny the Elder from St. Augustine nor the change 
from paganism to Christianity can be thought to have had great effect 
upon the Roman attitude toward magic. In fact, even to-day the mental 
life of Italy is singularly bound up with magic belief and practice. Cf. 
Leland, Etruscan Roman Remains in Popular Tradition, passim, but 
especially 4; 13; 171; 197-198; 256-298; 303-305; Elworthy, Evil Eye, 
1-28; 150-155; 204-211; 257-262; 311; 321; 355-364; 403-404; 429; 
Story, Castle St. Angelo and the Evil Eye, 147-238 (the pages here indicated 
treat of the evil eye, and were originally published as a chapter of Story's 
work, Roba di Roma) . 

31 Rel. Exper. 47. 

32 New International Encyclopedia 2 , s. v. Magic. 

33 Origin and Development of Moral Ideas, 2, 584. 



8 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

magic as the exercise of "supernatural mechanical power . . ., 
without making any appeal at all to the will of a supernatural 
being, in the interest of the operator." All students of magic 
are, therefore, agreed with our ancient authorities that the 
purpose of magic is to control natural phenomena by preter- 
natural means. 

III. Magic Distinguished from Science 

We quoted above 34 the statement of Pliny that magic sprang 
from medicine and received added strength from religion. 
Whether we accept this view or not, we must concede that 
magic is closely connected with both medicine 35 (i.e. science) 
and religion, and that we should carefully mark the bound- 
aries between the three. We are still much in doubt whether 
magic grew out of religion or religion out of magic, 36 but we 
may be sure that magic always antedates medicine and other 
sciences. 37 In fact, magic is the result of unorganized scientific 
instinct befbre the principles of the natural working of cause and 
effect are thoroughly understood. The magician studies plants, 38 

34 Page 5. 36 Cf. A. Lang, Mag. and Rel. 47 ff. 

35 Cf. infra, 8-10. 

37 Cf. A. Lang, Mag. and Rel. 3-4; Frazer, G. B. 1, 1, 220-222; Tylor, 
P. C. 3 (Am.) 1, 112-137. 

38 Both Medea and Circe based their magical skill largely upon their 
knowledge of herbs. Cf. Daremberg et Saglio, Dictionnaire des antiquites, 
8. v. magia. For Circe, cf. Odyss. 10, 213; 276; Ovid, Met. 14, 14-22; 
34; 43; 56; 266-270: Rem. Am. 263; Hyginus, Fab. 125; Horace, 
Epist. 1, 2, 23-26; Cicero, In Caec. 57; Tibullus, 2, 4, 55-56: 3, 7, 61-63; 
Propertius, 2, 1, 53: 3, 12, 27; Apuleius, Apol. 31: De Deo Socrat. 24; 
Pliny, 25, 10-11. For Medea cf. Welcker, Kleine Schriften, 3, 20-26; Ovid, 
Her. 6, 93: Met. 7, 98; 149; 224-233; 264-265; Horace, Epod. 3, 12: 5, 
67-68; Pliny, N. H. 25, 10-11; Elegiae in Maecenatem 110; 112; Tibullus, 
1, 2, 51: 2, 4, 55-56; Propertius, 2, 1, 54: 2, 4, 7; Lucan, 4, 555-556: 
6, 441-442; Seneca, Med. 269-270; Valerius Flaccus, 6, 441^42: 7, 
355-370. Similar references to magic herbs are very numerous in Latin 
authors. 



INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ROMAN MAGIC 9 

animals, 39 and stones, 40 as carefully as does the scientist, 
but with a very different method of handling the material. 
Science seeks, by patient observation, experimentation, and 
reason, to arrive at probable facts and theories in regard to 
natural phenomena ; whereas magic seeks the secret bond of 
sympathia in the world of nature — the unusual, the marvellous. 
The magician is a keen observer of the world around him whose 
sense of cause and effect has been warped by his mystical trend 
of mind or by his ignorance of the true scientific method of 
investigation. In particular he is influenced to a very large 
extent by the feeling that like affects like, similia similibus. 41 
There is a peculiar bond in nature, he believes, which exercises 
great power. For example, since the word arista means both 
a beard of grain and a hair, it follows that (arista holci) circa 
caput alligata vel circa lacertum educit e corpore aristas. 42 
In the same manner, a wax image of a person may be treated 

39 Animals favorable to magic are the hyena (Pliny, N. H. 8, 106: 28, 
102-106; 115; Marcellus Empiricus, 36, 27; Lucan, 6, 672; Scribonius 
Largus, 172; Columella, 2, 9, 9); the bat (Pliny, N. H. 29, 83: 30, 64; 144; 
Varro, Sat. Menip., Agatho, Fr. 8; Marcellus Empiricus, 28, 45); the weasel 
(Pliny, N.H. 28, 106: 29, 99; 131); and the bubo (Ovid, Met. 5, 549-550: 6, 
432-434: 10, 452-453: 15, 791; ColumeUa, 10, 349-350; Seneca, Med. 733; 
Lucan, 5, 396; Pliny, N.H. 28, 228-229: 29,81-82; Statius, Theb. 3, 510- 
512; Apuleius, Met. 3, 21; Palladius, R. R. 1, 35, 1-2). Similar lists could 
be given for almost every conceivable animal, especially for those of re- 
pulsive appearance or unusual. The chameleon, frog, mole, and lizard are 
favorite animals among Roman magicians. 

40 Cf. Camb. Corny. 581 ff., and the references there given. See also 
Hyginus, Fab. 22. Pliny makes the following references to magic stones: 
N. H. 10, 12: 36, 141; 142; 151: 37, 142; 143; 144; 153; 155; 156; and the 
following to magic gems: 37, 54; 118; 124; 135; 144; 145; 147; 156; 
160; 162; 164; 165; 168; 169; 172; 176; 185; 192. See also Valentin 
Rose, Damigeron de Lapidibus, in Hermes, 9, 471-491. 

41 Cf. Frazer, G. B. 1, 1, 52-219; R. Heim, Incantamenta Magica Graeca. 
Latina, in Neue Jahrbiicher fur Classische Philologie, Supplementband 19 
(1893), 484^-491; Theodor Weidlich, Die Sympathie in der Antiken hit- 
eratur (in Programm des Karls-Gymnasiums in Stuttgart [1894]), 1-76; 
Tylor, P. C. 3 (Am.) 1, 112-159. 42 Pliny, N. H. 27, 90 



10 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

in any way the magician desires, in the full belief that 
the person represented by the image will undergo identical 
experiences. 43 

To the popular mind the practices of magic and of science 
are often identical. The uninstructed are likely to conclude, 
for example, that those who know how and when eclipses 
and other phenomena occur are also able to control them; 
and so it comes about that the natural philosophers are often 
called magi, quasi facere etiam sciant quae sciant fieri. 44 In 
the case of conflicting explanations of natural phenomena, the 
explanation that involves magic usually wins with the populace 
over the scientific ; and Pliny deprecatingly remarks : 45 

Inventa iam pridem ratio est praenuntians horas — non modo dies 
ac noctes — solis lunaeque defectuum; durat tamen tradita per- 
suasio in magna parte vulgi, veneficiis et herbis id cogi eamque unam 
feminarum scientiam praevalere. 

Magic, then, might be called the science of primitive man, 
before he learns to apply to his thinking a proper consideration 
of cause and effect ; it therefore remains powerful among those 
elements of a population which have least emerged from primi- 
tive mental conditions. 

IV. Magic Distinguished from Astrology 

If we are correct in declaring that magic seeks to control 
natural phenomena by preternatural means, it at once becomes 
apparent that astrology is not magic. For the astrologer seeks 
merely to foretell future events by his knowledge of the stars. 

43 Instances of this practice in Latin authors are Horace, Sat. 1, 8, 
30-33; 43-44: Epod. 17, 76; Ovid, Her. 6, 91-93: Amor. 3, 7, 29; Vergil, 
Eel. 8, 74-75; 80-81 (cf. Theocritus, 2, 21; 28-29). Instances of similar 
practices in all parts of the world will be found in Frazer, G. B. 1, 1, 55-79; 
A. Lang, Mag. and Rel. 3; Tylor, P. C. 3 (Am.) 1, 112 ff. 

44 Apuleius, Apol. 27. 45 N. H. 25, 10. 



INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ROMAN MAGIC 11 

. He does not at all attempt to control either the stars or the 
events, except in so far as his powers of suggestion may influ- 
ence the minds of his dupes. It may often have happened 
at Rome, as elsewhere, that astrologers also pretended to a 
knowledge of magic, in order to gain greater profit; but in 
so doing they undoubtedly went beyond the field of astrology. 
With the latter it is not my purpose to deal. 

V. Magic Distinguished from Superstition 

The definition we have given of magic makes clear also the 
difference between magic and superstition. It seems best to 
consider magic as the active practice of controlling natural 
phenomena by preternatural means, and superstition as the 
passive belief in the possibility of such wonderful deeds. 46 
Like magic, superstition is, of course, " frequently a survival 
of formerly accepted beliefs, since disowned by the majority 
of the more enlightened." 

VI. Magic Distinguished from Religion 

With religion, too, magic is often closely associated, as Pliny 
has intimated in the definition quoted above ; 47 yet magic 
differs from religion in its attitude toward both gods and men. 

46 In Plutarch, De Superstitione, passim, 'superstition' is excessive 
religious belief, often leading to mental torture. Cicero, too (De Invent. 
2, 165), speaks of superstitio, quae religioni propinqua est. In Nat. Deor, 
2, 72 he is more explicit : Nam qui totos dies precabantur et immolabant, 
ut sibi sui liberi superstites essent, superstitiosi sunt appellati, quod nomen 
patuit postea latius; qui autem omnia, quae ad cultum deorum pertinerent, 
diligenter retractarent et tamquam relegerent, sunt dicti religiosi. . . . 
Ita factum est in superstitioso et religioso alteram viti nomen, alteram 
laudis. Arthur Palmer's view, set forth in his note on Plautus, Amph. 1, 
1, 169, that swperstitiosus means one who believes in ghosts, one who is 
conversant with ghosts, one who can raise a ghost, a necromancer, a 
diviner, seems to stress the active side of the word too much. (But cf. 
Mayor, on Cicero, De Nat. Deor. 2, 72.) 47 Page 5. 



12 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM. LATIN LITERATURE 

Religion offers its prayers in a spirit of humilitj^ leaving the 
final decision with the gods. As Cicero says : 48 Religio est, 
quae superioris cuiusdam naturae, quam divinam vocant, 
curam caerimoniamque adfert. Magic, on the contrary, as- 
sumes to control the gods. Its invocations are imperious, as 
the following passages will make clear. The first is from the 
celebrated magic scene in Lucan : 49 

Una per aetherios exit vox ilia recessus, 
verbaque ad invitum perfert cogentia numen, 
quod non cura poli caelique volubilis umquam 
avocat. Infandum tetigit cum sidera murmur, 
turn, Babylon Persea licet secretaque Memphis 
omne vetustorum solvat penetrale Magorum, 
abducit superos alienis Thessalis aris. 

The second passage is from Apuleius : 50 iam scies erae meae 
miranda secreta, quibus obaudiunt manes, turbantur sidera, 
coguntur numina, serviunt elementa. Threats are uttered in 
order to compel the obedience of the gods, 61 and this power of 
compulsion w'as considered so real that Nero attempted to 
become the master of the gods through magic. 52 

VII. The Legal Aspect of Magic and Religion 

It should be noted that among the Romans magic was 
always secret and illegal, while religion was open and legal. 
As Apuleius tells us : 63 

48 De Invent. 2, 161. Cf. Nat. Deor. 2, 72, quoted in n. 46. 

49 6, 445-451. 

50 Met. 3, 15. For other instances cf. Lucan, 6, 492-499; 527-528; 
598-601; 605-607; Valerius Flaccus, 7, 498-499; Pseudo-Quintilian, 
Decl. Maior. 10, 15; 19; Seneca, Med. 271. In Varro, Res Divin., apud 
Augustin., C. D. 6, 9, three men are said to control a god, but the men 
themselves are representatives of other gods. 51 Lucan, 6, 730-749. 

52 Pliny, N. H. 30, 14; Suetonius, Nero 34, 4. 

53 Apol. 47. Cf. Ovid, Met. 7, 255-257: Fasti 6, 164; Pliny, N. H. 
24, 170: 29, 91; and especially, Augustinus, C. D. 8, 19: Porro adversus 



INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ROMAN MAGIC 13 

Magia ista, quantum ego audio, res est legibus delegata, iam inde 
antiquitus duodecim tabulis propter incredundas frugum inlecebras 
interdicta. Igitur est occulta non minus quam tetra et horribilis, 
plerumque noctibus vigilata et tenebris abstrusa et arbitris solitaria 
et carminibus murmurata. . . . 

We are soon u to discover, in discussing the history of Roman 
magic, that religious conservatism retained in Roman religion 
a considerable amount of outgrown magic practice; and yet, 
from the time when the Laws of the Twelve Tables were given 
(451-450 b.c), throughout the whole history of Roman law, 
magic is always condemned, while religion is always fostered. 
Servius tells us : 56 cum multa sacra Romani susciperent, semper 
magica damnarunt, probrosa enim ars habita est. . . . 

To enumerate the laws passed at Rome against magicians 
is but to show how determined the lawmakers were to stamp 
out magic practices, and how impossible was their task. The 
Laws of the Twelve Tables expressly forbade anyone, on 
punishment of death, to entice his neighbor's crops, by magic 
rites, into his own fields, 56 or to chant a magic incanta- 

magicas artes, de quibus quosdam nimis infelices et nimis impios etiam 
gloriari libet, nonne ipsam publicam lucem testem citabo? Cur enim 
tarn graviter ista plectuntur severitate legum, si opera sunt numinum 
colendorum? 64 Cf. infra, 24-25. 

65 Ad Aen. 4, 493. Cf. Augustinus, C. D. 8, 19, quoted above in n. 53. 

66 Cf. C. G. Bruns, Fontes Iuris Romani Antiqui 1 , 30, frag. 8, a and b. 
The fragments read: (a) qui fruges excantassit, and (b) neve alienam 
segetem pellexeris. ... On (a) cf. Pliny, N. H. 28, 18: Non et legum 
ipsarum in duodecim tabulis verba sunt: "qui fruges excantassit," et 
alibi: "qui malum carmen incantassit"?; Seneca, Nat. Quaest. 4, 7, 2: 
Et apud nos in XII tabulis cavetur, "ne quis alienos fructus excantassit." 
On (b) cf. Servius, on Vergil, Eel. 8, 99: Atque satas alio vidi traducere 
messes: Magicis quibusdam artibus hoc fiebat, unde est in XII tabulis: 
"neve alienam segetem pellexeris"; Augustinus, C. D. 8, 19 quod hac 
pestifera scelerataque doctrina fructus alieni in alias terras transferri 
perhibentur; nonne in XII tabulis. . . Cicero commemorat esse con- 
scriptum et ei, qui hoc fecerit, supplicium constitutum?; Apuleius, Apol. 
47, quoted above. 



14 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

tion. 57 An actual trial for alleged violation of these laws was 
held before the curule aedile, Spurius Albinus, in 157 B.C. 58 It 
is not unlikely that the order issued to the aediles of 428 B.C. 
to restore the old gods to their former honors and to stamp 
out the new and foreign rites was aimed in part against magic 
practices. 59 Likewise, the praetor's edict of 212 B.C., ordering 
that all books on foreign cults be burned and that all new 
rites be suppressed, 60 as well as the famous Senatus Consultum 
de Bacchanalibus 61 of 186 B.C., was probably necessitated, 
at least in part, by an increase in magic practices. It is prob- 
able, too, that the edict of the praetor, Cornelius Hispallus, 
expelling the Chaldaean astrologers from Rome, in 139 B.C., 
included all who practiced occult arts. 62 Additional light is 
thrown upon early Roman magic practice by a senatus consultum 
of 97 B.C., forbidding human sacrifice, a practice which Pliny, 
at least, considered as likely to have been common. in times 
gone by, in connection with magic. 63 Astrologers and magicians 
are mentioned explicitly together as having been driven from 
Rome by Agrippa in 33 b.c. 64 Generally speaking, we may' 

57 Bruns, Fontes, 28; Pliny, N. H. 28, 18, quoted in n. 56; P. Huvelin, 
Les tablettes magiques et le droit romain, 4 (in Annates du congres inter' 
national d'histoire comparee [Paris, 1902], 2, 15-81). This ancient law 
is quoted by Cicero as follows (De Re Pub., apud Augustinum, C. D. 2, 9): 
XII tabulae cum perpaucas res capite sanxissent, in his hanc quoque 
sanciendam putaverunt: si quis occentavisset sive carmen condidisset, 
quod infamiam faceret flagitiumve alteri. If Huvelin is correct (see La 
notion de V "injuria" dans le tres ancien droit romain [Annates de Vuni- 
versite de Lyons, 1903], 407-412) in interpreting occentavisset of this pas- 
sage as incantavisset, then the Twelve Tables directed that certain magic 
practices be punished by death. Occentare certainly has such a meaning 
in Julius Paulus, Sent. Receptae 5, 23, 15, but the bulk of the evidence 
(cf. Bruns, loc. cit.) seems to be against such an interpretation. 

58 Pliny, N. H. 18, 41-43. 60 Livy, 25, 1, 6-12. 

59 Livy, 4, 30, 9-11. 61 Livy, 39, 16. 

62 Valerius Maximus, 1, 3, 3. Cf. Cicero, Div. 2, 87-99; Dill, Roman 
Society from Nero to M. Aurelius, 446. 

63 Pliny, N. H. 30, 12. M Cassius Dio, 49, 43, 5. 



INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ROMAN MAGIC 15 

assume that Chaldaean astrologers practiced magic, and that 
magicians used astrology as an aid. In other words, both 
classes were trying to reap the greatest possible reward from 
Roman credulity, and would in all probability use every means 
to accomplish that end. 

But all measures of suppression were in vain; for when, 
twenty years later, Augustus, as Pontifex Maximus, ordered 
all books upon occult subjects to be burned, the number col- 
lected for the fire reached two thousand. 65 Again, in 16 a.d., 
the magicians and the astrologers were expelled from Italy. 66 
But they came back in such numbers that it became necessary 
to pass a very severe senatus consultum in 52 a.d. expelling 
all mathematici from Italy, 67 and it is very likely that the 
magicians also shared in the rigors of this expulsion. 68 Similar 
edicts against astrologers were issued by the Emperors in 
69 a.d. 69 and in 89 a.d. 70 

Up to this point in Roman history there is no evidence that 
any except those actively engaged in the practice of magic 
were punished under the various laws ; but during Caracalla's 
reign we find even passive believers in magic condemned and 
executed, 71 a practice which was crystallized into law a short 
while thereafter. 72 Under laws to be found in the Codex 
Theodosianus , 73 countless persons were put to death for be- 
lieving in or having recourse to magic practices. 74 

65 Suetonius, Aug. 31. 66 Tacitus, Ann. 2, 32. 67 Ibid. 12, 52. 

68 For a similar confusion of magic and astrology cf . Julius Capitolinus, 
Marc. Aur. 19, 3. 69 Suetonius, Vitel. 14, 4. 

70 Hieronymus, Ann. Abr. 2105 = 89 a.d. 

71 Spartianus, Carac. 5, 7. 

72 Julius Paulus, Sent. Receptae 5, 23, 15; 17-18. 

73 Lib. 5, tit. 16, numbers 3; 5; 6; 7; 8; 12. 

74 For the whole matter of the expulsion of astrologers from Rome 
cf . A. Bouch6-Leclercq, Histoire de la divination dans I'antiquite, 4l, 325-339; 
A. Maury, La magie et V astrologie dans I'antiquite et au moyen dge, Chapters 
4 and 6; Mommsen, Strafrecht, 635-643. 



16 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

The reason for this persistent opposition of Roman lawmakers 
to magic is easy to understand. With religion, as "the effect- 
ive desire to be in right relation to the Power manifesting 
itself in the universe," 75 Roman thought and Roman law 
were always in complete accord. Such an attitude of spirit 
produced citizens imbued with a proper regard both for the 
gods and for their neighbors. Magic, on the other hand, pur- 
ported to give to a limited number of skilled practitioners 
supreme control of gods, men, and property in accord with 
their own selfish desires. 76 Persons thus endowed would there- 
fore become superior to all legal restraints and dangerous to 
the common welfare. Accordingly, the practices of magic 
were always necessarily secret and illegal. 77 

There was, however, at all times in Italy a harmless kind 
of magic, which sought to control nature in the interests of the 
population as a whole, and with which the Roman law con- 
cerned itself but little. I refer to the magic that was charac- 
teristic of the .rural districts. It taught the men of the farms 
how to avert hail storms, how to keep pests from the crops, 
how to cure disease in man and beast, and a thousand other 
useful things. It had no professional practitioners as a rule, 
for everybody knew its precepts. It flourished most vigorously 
in Italy, as it flourishes most vigorously everywhere, in locali- 
ties least affected by the rationalizing influences of the cities. 78 
It was, therefore, not an imported product; it* did not come 
first to the cities, and find its way thence gradually into the 

75 For this excellent definition of religion I am indebted to Fowler* 
Rel. Exper. 8, who in turn quotes it from Ira W. Howerth, International 
Journal of Ethics, 1903, page 205. 

76 Cf. Augustinus, De Divers. Quaest. 79, 4 Illi (i.e. magi) faciunt 
(miracula) quaerentes gloriam suam, isti (i.e. Christiani) quaerentes 
gloriam Dei. . . . Cf. supra, 6-7. 

77 Cf. Apuleius, Apol. 47, quoted supra, 12, and n. 53. 

78 It is not surprising, therefore, that Marcellus Empiricus obtained 
many of his magical cures ab agrestibus et plebeis (De Medic, Introd. 2). 



INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ROMAN MAGIC 17 

more remote districts. Though apparently neglected by those 
who trace Italian magic to Persia, 79 or begin the history of 
Italian magic with the advent of Greek influence, 80 it was cer- 
tainly of much greater importance in the daily life of the 
Italian peninsula than all the later magic from the East. The 
magic of the Italian country people was and is the universal 
magic on which the anthropologists have written volumes. 
It represents a survival of prescientific times, 81 and accordingly 
it finds some response in the minds and hearts of all who will 
make honest confession, whether they are Romans or Ameri- 
cans. It is this kind of magic which has survived to the present 
day in parts of Italy as la vecchia religione, 'the old religion/ 
that to many peasants is much more powerful than the priests 
and the saints. 82 It is this kind of magic which persists in the 
inner consciousness of many Latin authors, and often shows 
itself, though they do not intend to display it, and though 
they believe themselves altogether superior to belief in magic. 
Even those who, like Pliny, bitterly oppose magic and magicians, 
often exhibit an unusual love for repeating popular beliefs and 
stories of magic. 

VIII. Formal Latin Treatises upon Occult Subjects 

Formal treatises upon occult subjects were not lacking among 
the Romans. P. Nigidius Figulus, a contemporary of Varro 
and second only to him in breadth of learning, had a strong 
bent toward the occult. His works upon omens, 83 dreams, 84 

79 Pliny, N. H. 30, 3 ff.; Varro, apud Augustinum, C. D. 7, 35. 

80 Daremberg et Saglio, Diet, des antiq., s. v. magia. 

81 Cf . supra, 8 ff. 

82 Cf. C. G. Leland, Etrusc. Rom. Rem. 1-17, and passim. 

83 Gellius, 16, 6, 12 P. autem Nigidius in libro quern de extis composuit; 
7, 6, 10 Nigidius Figulus in libro I augurii privati. . . . 

84 Ioannes Laurentius Lydus, De Ostentis 45 6 NiyLdios kv rg t&v dveipwv 

hTTLCTKef/f:!.. . . . 



18 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

and divination from thunder, 86 together with the magical 
trend of many items in his work on natural science, 86 gave 
him the reputation of a magus 87 and astrologies. 88 His works 
are known to us only in the quotations of Pliny, Apuleius, 
Gellius, Augustine, and Ioannes Laurentius Lydus. 89 A con- 
temporary of his, Appius Claudius Pulcher (consul 54 B.C.), 
wrote upon augury, necromancy, and other occult subjects; 90 
but his work, too, has perished. Other writers of this same 
period busied themselves with Etruscan divination, 91 but not 
all of them from the viewpoint of the believer, as we may 
judge from the skeptical tone of Cicero's De Divinatione. 
L. Tarutius Firmanus, a friend of Cicero, devoted himself to 
astrology ; 92 Columella, the pleasing writer on agriculture, 
composed a work Adversus Astrologos. 93 Later, in the battle 
between Christianity and paganism, Minucius Felix is said 
to have written Contra Mathematicos, u while, in the fourth 
century of our era, Julius Firmicus Maternus defended as- 

85 Ioannes Laurentius Lydus, De Ostentis 27 k^rj^epos PpoPTocrKoirla . . . 
Kara top 'Poofxaiov <&Lyovhov . . . . 

86 Pliny, N. H. 10, 106: 11, 97: 29, 138: 30, 84. 

87 Hieronymus, ad Euseb. Chron. a. Abr. 1972-45 B.C.: Nigidius Figu- 
lus Pythagoricus et magus in exilio moritur. Cf. Apuleius, Apol. 42 
Itemque Fabium, cum quingentos denarium perdidisset, ad Nigidium 
consultum venisse; ab eo pueros carmine instinctos indicavisse, ubi 
locorum defossa esset crumina. . . . 

88 Augustinus, C. D. 5, 3; Suetonius, Aug. 94, 5; Cassius Dio, 45, 
1, 3-5; Lucan, 1, 639 ff. 89 See supra, nn. 83-88. 

90 Cicero, Tusc. Disp. 1, 37 ea quae meus amicus Appius veKvonavTtla 
faciebat; Div. 1, 132 psychomantia, quibus Appius . . . uti solebat. 
From the latter passage it appears that he put his theories into practice. 

91 Cf. Teuffel, Rom. Lit. 6 § 199; G. Schmeisser, Quaestionum De 
Etrusca Disciplina Particula (a dissertation [Bresiau, 1872]). 

92 Cicero, Div. 2, 98; Plutarch, Rom. 12; Ioannes Laurentius Lydus, 
De Mens. 1, 14; Pliny, Index Auctorum to Book 18. 

93 Columella, 11, 1, 31 in iis libris, quos adversus astrologos composueram. 

94 Of doubtful authorship, according to Hieronymus, De Viris Illus- 
tribus 58 (ed. Richardson). 



INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ROMAN MAGIC 19 

trology against Christianity. 95 Of these writings only Cicero's 
De Divinatione and the work of Julius Firmicus Maternus 
have survived. 

The only two works in extant Latin literature which at all 
resemble a treatise on magic are the Apologia of Apuleius of 
Madaura, his defence against the charge of being a magician ; 
and parts of Pliny's Natural History, especially the first thirteen 
paragraphs of book thirty. With these latter paragraphs as 
our main dependence, we shall now consider briefly the source, 
the antiquity, and the prevalence of Italian magic. 

IX. The Source, Antiquity, and Prevalence of 
Italian Magic 

Pliny informs us in the passage above mentioned that Zo- 
roaster 96 founded magic about six thousand years before the 
death of Plato, and that his successors had left behind them 
nothing more than their names. Strangely enough, con- 
tinues he, the Iliad is comparatively free from magic, 97 whereas 

95 Teuffel, Rom. Lit. 6 , 406. It is pleasing to note that he was later 
converted, and became an ardent defender of Christianity. Cf. Lynn 
Thorndike, A Roman Astrologer as a Historical Source: Julius Firmicus 
Maternus, in Classical Philology, 8 (1913), 415-435. 

96 For the time of Zoroaster cf . New Intemat. Encyclop. 2 , s. v. Zoroaster, 
and authorities cited there. Pliny cites him as an authority for Books 18 
and 37, and quotes him in 18, 200: 37, 133; 150; 157; 159. But the works 
attributed to him, Ilept Aldoov Tcfiicov, Uepl <£>u<recos, kbyia, etc. are doubtless 
apocryphal. Cf. also Apuleius, Flor. 15; Justinus, 1, 1, 9. 

97 But cf. II. 7, 193-196 for secret names of the gods as taboo. In 11, 
740-741 'Aya/x-qdrj is probably to be taken as the Homeric name for 
Medea. See also 12, 254-255: 13, 59-60; 434-435: 15, 321-322; 594: 
24, 343-345 for the use of the magic wand by gods. In 14, 214-221 Hera 
seeks from Aphrodite, among other endearing charms, a magic girdle. 
In 16, 235 Achilles, invoking Zeus, speaks of Dodona, where <roi valova' 
{>TO(f>rjTat, aviiTToiroSes xa/xateuj'ai; compare with this the fact that the much 
tabooed Flamen Dialis also slept on a bed the feet of which must be 
smeared with fine mud (Frazer, Class. Rev. 2, 322; G. B. 2, 14). Accord- 



20 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

the Odyssey is built almost wholly upon magic episodes. No 
one has ever explained how magic came to Telmessus or to 
Thessaly. 98 

The first author on magic whose works are extant, continues 
Pliny," is Osthanes, a Persian who accompanied Xerxes into 
Greece, and introduced a veritable rage for the art. Great 
philosophers like Pythagoras, 100 Empedocles, Democritus, 101 

ing to Leaf, on Iliad 18, 418, the animated handmaidens of gold there 
described "are a relic of the tradition which everywhere attributes magical 
powers to the mythical founders of metallurgy. ..." When the com- 
panions of Patroclus carry his body to burial, they cover it with their 
shorn hair, as representative of their own bodies (II. 24, 710-712. Cf. 
Tylor, P. C. 2, 401; Rohde, Psyche 3 , 16-17; Frazer, Pausan. 4, 136). 

98 For magic in Thessaly cf. Plautus, Amph. 1043; Horace, Epod. 5,45: 
Carm. 1, 27, 21-22: Epist. 2, 2, 208-209; Ovid, Am. 1, 14, 39-40: 3, 7, 
27-28: Ars. Amat. 2, 99-100: Rem. Am. 249; Seneca, Phaed. 420-422; 
791: Med. 790-792: Here. Oet. 465-466; 525; Lucan, 6, 430-820, but 
especially 434-491; Valerius Flaccus, 1, 736-738: 6, 448: 7, 198-199; 
325-326; Statius, Theb. 3, 140-146; 557-559: 4, 504; Martial, 9, 29, 9; 
Juvenal, 6, 610-612; Apuleius, Met. 2, 1. 

99 30, 8. S'or Osthanes see above, page 2, and cf. Pliny, N. H. 28, 6; 
69; Minucius Felix, 26, 11 (Hostanes); Apuleius, Apol. 90 (Ostanes); 
Arnobius, Adv. Gent. 1, 52 (Ostanes); Pap. Paris. 2006 fiaciXd 'Oaravg 
UItvs xa-i-pew', Synesius, Epist. ad Diosc. (in Fabric. Bibliotheca Graeca, 
8, 233); A. Dieterich, Papyrus Magica Musei Lugdunen. Batavi (Leip- 
zig, 1888), 751-752; A. Maury, Magie, 61 and n. 2. 

ioo jr or Pythagoras's study of magic lore cf. Apuleius, Flor. 15; Pliny, 
N. H. 24, 160. For his adoption of magic cures, see Pliny, N. H. 24, 156- 
158. For his belief in mystic numbers cf. Apuleius, Met. 11, 1. In general, 
for the wonder tales that were fathered upon Pythagoras cf . Frazer, G. B. 1, 
1, 213; Zeller, Philosophie der Griechen*, 285 and n. 2; K. Kiesewetter, 
Der Occultismus des Altertums, 471-472. 

101 For the works of Democritus cf. Columella, 11, 3, 64; Pliny, N. H. 
24, 160: 25, 13: 26, 19; Vitruvius, De Arch. 9, proem. 14. The frag- 
ments of Democritus's De Sympathiis et Antipathiis are contained in 
Fabricius's Bibliotheca Graeca, libri IV, pars altera 333-338. For their 
genuineness, however, cf. Theodor Weidlich, Sympath. 13 ff. Democritus 
is severely arraigned by Pliny for magical teaching (N. H. 28, 112-118 and 
elsewhere), but is warmly defended against such a charge by A. Gellius 
(N. A. 10, 12, 1-8). 



INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ROMAN MAGIC 21 

and Plato, 102 he continues, endured unusual hardships in order 
to learn of it, and gained great fame by publishing its doctrines. 
Of these, Democritus especially popularized these attract- 
ive chimaeras in the Greek world at about the period of the 
Peloponnesian War. 

Jewish magic, represented by Moses, 103 Jannes, and Lotapes, 
is many thousand years posterior to that of Zoroaster, says 
Pliny (§ 11), and is followed in its turn by the much more 
recent Cyprian magic. Last of all there were Macedonian 
additions during the time of Alexander the Great. 

Roman magic is then treated by Pliny with disappointing 
brevity in five and one-half lines of Teubner text (30, 12) : 

Extant certe et apud Italas gentes vestigia eius in XII tabulis 
nostris aliisque argumentis, quae priore volumine exposui. DCLVII 
demum anno urbis Cn. Cornelio Lentulo P. Licinio Crasso cos. senatus 
consultum factum est, ne homo immolaretur, palamque fit, in tempus 
illut sacra prodigiosa celebrata. 

All else that he might have said is condensed into the words 
aliisque argumentis, quae priore volumine exposui. 104 The 
passage referred to by these words is N. H. 28, 10-21, where 
a number of ancient Roman beliefs are gathered together ; as, 
for example, the belief in which, notwithstanding the skepti- 
cism of the cultured, the populace persisted, that certain words 
may have great magic power, as one sees in the story of the 
Vestal Tuccia, who, by the power of a certain formula, carried 
water in a sieve ; 105 and the fact that the Vestals, as a body, 
possessed a powerful charm by which they could stop a run- 
away slave, provided he had not yet gone beyond the city 

102 Cf. Apuleius, De Platone 1, 3. 

103 Cf. Apuleius, Apol. 90. 

104 The reason for this brevity seems to have been the author's assumed 
superiority to such beliefs. He apparently was ashamed of many of the 
popular beliefs of his day, and did not wish to give them any undue 
prominence. 105 N. H. 28, 12. 



22 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

limits. 106 The experience of Tullus Hostilius proves, we are 
further informed, 107 the fatal consequences of handling magic 
words with insufficient understanding. For words have power 
to transfer crops from one field to another and to injure one's 
enemy, if one is to believe the Twelve Tables. They can also 
evoke the gods of hostile cities, bewitch, bind in the bonds of 
love, control serpents, avert fire, cure wounds and disease, 
and secure safety. 108 The Romans also have to-day, Pliny 
concludes, many superstitious and magic practices, concerning 
which each may judge for himself. 109 

Pliny's belief, then, seems to have been that magic gradually 
worked its way from the East to the West, beginning with the 
Persian, Zoroaster; no that in some unknown way it reached 
Thessaly; 111 and that finally it was introduced into Greece by 
Osthanes. He seems also to believe that Italian, Gallic, and 
British magic came over the sea from Persia through Greece. 112 
We now know that such a view is untenable, and indeed Pliny 
himself can be shown to contradict such a theory. The passage 
in the Twelve Tables to which he refers 113 must reflect a usage 
not merely contemporaneous with the date of the adoption 
of that code, 114 but anterior to that date. Now, if Persian magic 
was introduced into Greece in 480 B.C., only thirty years 
intervened between the date of that introduction and the 

106 N. H. 28, 13. 107 Ibid. 28, 14. "« Ibid. 28, 18-21. 

109 Ibid. 28, 22-29. 

110 For Zoroaster as the founder of magic ef. A. Maury, Magie, 35 
and n. 3. 

111 For magic in Thessaly cf . supra, 20, n. 98. 

112 Cf. N. H. 30, 13 Sed quid ego haec commemorem in arte oceanum 
quoque transgressa et ad naturae inane pervecta? Britannia hodieque 
earn adtonita celebrat tantis caerimoniis, ut dedisse Persis videri possit. 
The intimation is indeed clear here that the pupil, Britain, was now able 
to teach the teacher, Persia. 

113 N. H. 28, 17-18. Cf. supra, 13, and n. 56. 

114 Circa 450 B.C. 



INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ROMAN MAGIC 23 

time when the Italian farmers had become so expert at enticing 
their neighbors' crops into their own fields by means of magic 
that a rigid prohibitory law had to be enacted. We are asked 
to believe that within this short time Persian magic obtained 
a firm hold in Greece, made its way thence to the cities of Italy, 
and thence to the country districts. We are asked also to 
overlook the fact that the Twelve Tables have nothing at all 
to say about magic in the cities, where Greek influences were 
naturally strongest, but are very explicit regarding certain 
practices in the country, where Greek influences were scarcely 
felt. The facts are all against Pliny's theory, and we are 
forced to conclude that this magic of the Italian country dis- 
tricts was a native growth, entirely uninfluenced by Persian 
or Greek magic. Like all magic, it held its own in the rural 
sections long after the more sophisticated inhabitants of the 
cities had abandoned such beliefs. Furthermore, all the Latin 
authors who refer to this law in the Twelve Tables do so with 
the superior air of men who have outgrown an early belief 
which was native and characteristic of their crude ancestors. 115 
If there had been the least suspicion that such a usage was 
a foreign importation, it is scarcely likely that these defenders 
of Rome's more advanced thought would have failed to say 
so. The passage in the Twelve Tables must therefore be counted 
as strong evidence for the existence of an early, native Italian 
magic. 

Early tradition also makes Italy the home of magic. Circe, 

115 So Pliny (N. H. 28, 13) to the passage in which he quotes among 
other ancient matters the law of the Twelve Tables prefixes the words, 
Prisci quidem nostri perpetuo talia credidere. He closes the passage with 
the words (§ 29), Quapropter de iis ut cuique libitum fuerit opinetur. 
Seneca (Nat. Quaest. 4b, 7, 2-3) says, in connection with magic control 
of the weather, Et apud nos in XII tabulis cavetur, ne quis alienos 
fructus excantassit. Rudis adhuc antiquitas credebat et attrahi cantibus 
imbres et repelli, quorum nihil posse fieri tarn palam est, ut huius rei causa 
nullius philosophi schola intranda sit. 



24 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

whose power lay in her knowledge of magic herbs, 116 is in 
Homer a dweller on the island of Aeaea. 117 Nor did Roman 
writers disown her as a fellow Italian. 118 It was the universal 
acceptance of this tradition and probably some first-hand 
knowledge that led Aeschylus to speak of refertam Italiam 
herbarum potentia. 119 

That Roman magic was at once very ancient and of native 
origin is clearly shown by the survival of many magic rites 
in Roman religion. 120 Vergil, for example, who was in heart 
and feeling a genuine Italian, made his early Marruvian m 
and Massylian 122 priests, like Livy's Attus Navius, 123 adepts in 

116 Cf. Od. 10, 213; 235-240; 276; 290-292; 317; 326-328; Pacuvius, 
Frag, ex Incert. Fab. 39 (Ribbeck); Cicero, Div. in Caec. 57; Tibullus, 
2, 4, 55-56: 3, 7, 61-63; Propertius, 2, 1, 53: 3, 12, 27; Hyginus, Fab. 
125; Vergil, Aen. 7, 19-20; 190-191; Horace, Epist. 1, 2, 23; Ovid, 
Met. 14, 14; 21; 34; 42-58; 266 fi\; 346-348; 355-360; 403: Rem. 
Amor. 263; Pliny, N. H. 25, 11; Apuleius, Apol. 31: De Deo Socratis 24; 
Nemesianus, Cyn. 44; Rutilius Namatianus, 1, 525; Symmachus, Epist. 
1, 47, 1. For, the herb named after her cf. Pliny, N. H. 25, 147: 27, 60; 
Dioscorides, De Mat. Med. 3, 124. 117 Od. 10, 135-136. 

118 Pliny calls her Itala Circe, and places her abode in the territory of 
Circei (N. H. 25, 10-11). Hyginus places her home either in Aeaea (Fab. 
127) or in Aenaria (Fab. 125). (For the location of these two places in 
ancient geography cf. Pomponius Mela, 2, 120; 121.) Ovid locates her 
dwelling in Circaea arva (Met. 14, 346-348), wherever they may be. Her 
son, Telegonus, was said to have built the Circaean walls of Tusculum 
(Horace, Epod. 1, 29-30); her descendants, the Marsi, through their 
inherited knowledge of magic drugs, possessed a remarkable power over 
serpents (Pliny, N. H. 7, 15: 25, 11; A. Gellius, 16, 11, 1-2). She was 
scrupulously worshiped by the inhabitants of Circei in Cicero's time and 
later (Cicero, Nat. Deor. 3, 48; Strabo, 5, 234; Wissowa, Religion und 
Kultus, 49, n. 6, and 542, n. 5). 

119 Pliny, N. H. 25, 11. The statement does not occur in any extant 
work of Aeschylus; but cf. Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. 19, 15, 1. 

120 For an excellent discussion of this subject, see W. Warde Fowler, 
Ret. Exp. 24-67. Cf. Wissowa, Religion und Kultus, 409. 

121 Aen. 7, 750-758. 122 Ibid. 4, 483-493; 509-516. 

123 Livy, 1, 36. Cf. Valerius Maximus, 1, 4, 1 (exc. Par. and exc. Nep.); 
Apuleius, De Deo Socratis 7; Dionysius, Ant. Rom. 3, 71; Cicero, Div. 
1, 32; Pliny, N. H. 15, 77. 



INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ROMAN MAGIC 25 

magic. The taboos surrounding the person of the Flamen 
Dialis, m the strange rite used in pacifying the Lemures, 12& 
the tradition concerning Cunina, the averter of the evil eye, 12& 
the magic powers popularly attributed to the Vestal Virgins, 127 
all point to a remote time when unadulterated Italian religion 
was closely interwoven with magic. That this magic survival 
represented a part of the religious bone and sinew of the ancient 
Italian is the real reason why an essential belief in magic has 
survived the overlaid stratum of Greek religion, and the more 
recently overlaid stratum of Christianity. 128 That is the real 
reason, too, why Pliny's fellow Romans preferred to explain 
natural phenomena by sympathetic magic 129 rather than by 
science, and why the old Italian of Cato's day scorned Greek 
medicine, but clung to magic cures 13 ° and amulets, especially 
the bulla. 131 

Indeed Pliny's Natural History alone furnishes abundant 
proof, even to the casual reader, 132 that the Roman populace, 
at least, firmly believed in magic. 

X. The Attitude of Latin Authors toward Magic 

With literary men and the cultured classes the case, however, 
was different. Here, the rage for everything Greek was by 

124 A. Gellius, N. A. 10, 15. Cf. infra,. 54-55; Wissowa, Religion und 
Kultus, 34 and n. 1. 

125 Ovid, Fasti 5, 429-444, quoted infra, 37, n. 195; Varro, apud No- 
nium Marcellum, 197 (ed. Lindsay). 

126 Cf. infra, 45-46. 127 Pliny, N. H. 28, 12-13. Cf. infra, 58, n. 350.. 
128 Cf. supra, 16-17. 129 N. H. 25, 10, quoted supra, 10. 

130 Cato, R. R. 70; 71; 83; 159; 160; Varro, R. R. 1, 2, 27. 

131 Cf. Jahn. Uber den Aberglauben des bosen Blicks bei den Alten, in 
Berichte uber die Verhandlungen der koniglich-sdchsischen Gesellschaft der 
Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, Phil. -Hist. Classe (1855), 28-110, and especially 
the appended illustrations. Fowler, Rel. Exp. 59-61. For amulets in 
preventive medicine, see infra, 76ff. 

132 Cf ., e. g., Ian's index to the N. H., s. v. magi. 



26 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

no means confined to literature. Greek medicine and Greek 
religion were superimposed upon the native beliefs and prac- 
tices, and to a great extent displaced them. Greek philosophy- 
had ended by producing an almost universal skepticism, 
either real or affected, among the upper classes, upon which 
was overlaid, during the first century of our era, a very wide- 
spread belief in astrology. 133 Nevertheless the Roman remained 
essentially Roman. As the sermo plebeius makes its appear- 
ance in Roman literature wherever and whenever the artificial 
restraints of literary training and tradition are removed, so 
also many Latin authors unconsciously display an essential 
belief in the old magic, which antedates Greek influence, 
though not a few of them, like Pliny, formally disclaim such 
belief. Indeed, we shall be able to show that there was at 
Rome a numerous class of cultured men and women who 
publicly proclaimed themselves superior to popular belief, 
though in reality they were unable to free themselves from 
their inherited magic and superstition. 134 This fact can best be 
shown by a rapid examination of the Latin authors themselves. 

(1) Agricultural Writers 

Of the agricultural writers, Cato not only gives remedies of 
a more or less magic character for the cure of both man and 
beast, 136 apparently in the best of faith, but he adds to the 
collection an incantation of very great interest, but, unfor- 

133 Cf. Dill, Rom. Soc. 443-483. 

134 So, e.g., Columella, though in 11, 1, 31 he declares that he had written 
a book Adversus Astrologos, still, in 11, 3, 64, quotes, apparently with 
approval, the following from Democritus: has ipsas bestiolas enecari, si 
mulier quae in menstruis est, solutis crinibus et nudo pede unamquamque 
aream ter circumeat; post hoc enim decidere omnes vermiculos, et ita 
emori. We may note that the superstitions of Julius Caesar and Augustus 
are well attested, not to speak of those of the later Emperors. See infra, 
47-48. 135 Cf. R. R. 70; 71; 83; 159. 



INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ROMAN MAGIC 27 

tunately, of very great difficulty of interpretation. 136 He 
appears to believe in native magic practices, notwithstanding 
the fact that he ridicules divination, probably because the 
latter was not a native Roman belief, but had been imported 
from Etruria. 137 

Varro, on the other hand, though allowing one of the speakers 
in his De Re Rustica to recite a purely magic cure for a certain 
disease of the feet, disclaims belief in such practices. 138 Yet 
even he seems to believe that the waxing or the waning of the 
moon has a sympathetic effect upon the growth of crops, and 
otherwise. 139 

Columella's work on agriculture is very sane and in the main 
free from magic tinge. He wrote, as we have said, 140 a work, 
Adversus Astrologos, and in general was a man of good hard 
sense. Yet he bows to the popular belief regarding the effect 
of the moon's phases upon crops and other matters. 141 

From this presentation of the attitude of the agricultural 
writers toward magic it is apparent that Cato, who lived on 
most intimate terms with the people and was least affected 
by Greek polish, is most frank in declaring his assent to farm 
practice that smacks of magic. The other two writers give 

136 R. R. 160. For the text cf. infra, 71-72 and n. 38. 

137 Cf. Memorabilia Dicta (no. 65, p. 109 ed. Jordan) apud Ciceronem, 
Div. 2, 51. 

138 R. R. 1, 2, 27. For the text cf. infra, 72. 

139 Cf. R. R. 1, 37, especially this remark (§2): Ego istaec, inquit 
Agrasius, non solum in ovibus tondendis, sed in meo capillo a patre ac- 
ceptum servo, ni decresente luna tondens calvos nam. The views of 
the speaker apparently coincide with those of the author. In his formal 
opinions, however, regarding magic, Varro seems to have been a ration- 
alist. Cf. infra, 45-47. 

140 26, and n. 134; 18, and n. 93. 

141 For the moon's influence upon crops cf. R. R. 2, 5, 1; 10, 10; 10, 
12; 15,9; 16,1; 18,2: 5,11,2: 6,26,2: 8,5,9; 7,4: 11,2,11; 2,52; 
2, 85; 3, 22: 12, 16, 1; 19, 3; 43, 2; 43, 9; 53, 3; De Arboribus 15; 26, 2; 
29, 1. For menstruation in magic cf. R. R. 10, 360: 11, 3, 38; 3, 50. 



28 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

evidence of having believed in the efficacy of such practices 
more than they are willing to admit. 

It may be noted that the Georgics and the Eclogues of Vergil 
are remarkably free from references to rural magic. 142 The 
Aeneid, however, with its wealth of religious mysticism and 
story, finds place for a greater amount of magic. The 'golden 
bough/ made famous as the starting point of Frazer's brilliant 
anthropological investigations, 143 the power of Circe, 144 the 
Marruvian magician-priest, 145 the powerful magician-priestess 
from the Massylii, 146 and the fire-walking Hirpini of Soracte 147 
form an interesting element of his long tale. They are, how- 
ever, in every instance part of the story and do not of neces- 
sity indicate Vergil's personal belief in magic ; they show rather 
his knowledge of the ancient Italian's acceptance of such be- 
liefs. It is possible also that the poet's deep religious feeling 
led him purposely to avoid any more frequent reference to 
that outlawed ars magica, so dear to his fellow countrymen. 

(2) Dramatic Writers 

Turning to the dramatic writers, we find a marked contrast 
between Plautus, who was close to the people, and Terence, 

142 In the Georgics I have noted such reference only in 3, 280-283, a 
passage relating to hippomanes as a philter. In the Eclogues, if we except 
the eighth, which is so largely borrowed from Theocritus, I have found 
only one magic reference, a countercharm against the evil eye, 7, 25-28. 

143 The aureus ramus, Aen. 6, 136-155; 405-410, gave entrance to the 
under world to him who, by permission of the fates, should pluck it. The 
explanation of this legend and of the beliefs underlying it furnishes the 
starting point of Frazer's elaborate work, The Golden Bough. 

144 Aen. 7, 10-24; 189-191; 282-283. 

145 Ibid. 7, 750-758. 146 Ibid. 4, 483-493; 509-516. 

147 Ibid. 11, 785-788. The comment of Servius upon 787 is: 'Freti pie- 
tate': iste quidem hoc dicit, sed Varro ubique expugnator religionis ait, 
cum quoddam medicamentum describeret, 'Ut solent Hirpini qui am- 
bulaturi per ignes medicamento plantas tingunt.' For a refutation of 
Varro's rationalizing explanation cf. Andrew Lang, Magic and Religion, 
270 ft*. Cf . Solinus, 2, 26. 



INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ROMAN MAGIC 29 

who was not. The former refers to magic more than twenty- 
times, 148 while the latter is absolutely silent on the subject. 149 

(3) The Popular versus the Philosophic Attitude 

In general it may be said that those authors who wrote 
for a limited cultured few condemn magic practices, while 
those whose works were intended to reach a wider reading 
public, including the populace, often show a conscious or un- 
conscious love of magic. Thus, the champions of religion and 
the champions of philosophy necessarily scorned magic, the 
former, because it claimed to control the gods rather than to 
adore them, 160 the latter, because it could not be defended 
by any proper consideration of logical cause and effect. A 
brief consideration of the attitude of the Roman philosophers 
toward magic will prove the truth of this latter statement. 

Lucretius, the Epicurean, nowhere expressly states his views 
regarding magic. He does, however, give a rationalizing 
explanation of the popular belief that the cock had a peculiar 
antipathetic power over the lion; 161 he laughs to scorn the 

148 Many of these references are quite slight, and some of them were 
no doubt in the original Greek versions. Yet our knowledge of Plautus's 
Romanism and of his exuberant originality leads us to believe that such 
references were inserted, or retained, because they found a ready response 
in the hearts of his Roman audience. Cf. Amph. 323; 605; 777; ib. 
act 4, fragmenta 7 and 10; ib. frag, incert. 47 (p. 169 Ox. text, ed. Lind- 
say): Rudens 1139. Cf. Cure. 397 for super stitiosus as a 'wizard.' For 
the frequent mention of metamorphoses as though of common occurrence, 
cf. Amph. 455-458; 845-846: Mil. Glor. 430-432. For praestigiatrices, 
etc., cf. Amph. 782-783: Poen. 1125-1126. 

149 He does indeed give us one interesting instance of superstition and 
belief in omens, Phormio 705-710; but even this is put in the mouth of 
a slave. 

150 \\r e na ve already noted the antagonism of magic and religion, supra, 
12-13, 16-17. Cf. also Minucius Felix, Octav. 26, 10-11; 27; Augustinus, 
De Divers. Quaest. 79, 4. 

151 4, 708-719. For the more prevalent belief cf . Pliny, N. H. 8, 52. 



30 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

possibility of any such mythical beast as the Chimaera. 152 
The whole Etruscan system of divination, in his opinion, is 
foolish and unscientific ; 153 the fear of ghosts must yield to a 
rational explanation. 154 In the light of these passages we may 
feel assured that the only reason Lucretius did not condemn 
magic was either because it did not come within the scope of 
his subject, or else because he scorned the mention of so un- 
scientific a body of belief. 

Cicero, the representative of the New Academy, is no more 
favorable to the occult. Although he accepts the Stoic doc- 
trine that there is a certain contagio or crvniradeia in nature, 155 
he is a rationalist. He refuses to believe in ghosts, 156 and recom- 
mends a reasonable explanation as the best means of allaying 
the popular fear of eclipses. 157 He ridicules and condemns the 
growing belief in astrologers. 158 In fact, he considers all sooth- 
sayers, necromancers, augurs, astrologers, and dream seers 
worthless. 159 

How far the Stoic doctrine of sympathia drew the Roman 
followers of that school toward a belief in sympathetic magic 
we cannot tell with exactness. 160 Certain we ar^, however, 
that Seneca, the most celebrated Roman Stoic whose writings 
we possess, was strongly opposed to belief in magic. It is true 
that he introduces much magic into his tragedies, 161 even 

152 5, 901-921. 163 6, 379 ff. 154 1, 127-135. 

155 j)j v 2, 33 Ut enim iam sit aliqua in natura rerum contagio, quam 
esse concedo (multa enim Stoici colligunt; ...)... quam avuiraBdav 
Graeci appellant, . . . 

156 Tusc. 1, 37. 

157 De Re Pub. 1, 23-26. 

158 Tusc. 1, 95: Div. 2, 87-99: De Fato 15. 

159 Div. 1, 132: 2, 50; 84. 

160 Theo. Weidlich, Sympath. 4-11, is of the opinion that the Stoics 
pushed their belief in the sympathia of nature into the realm of the super- 
natural to a very considerable extent. 

161 Here. Oet. 452-472; 523-533; 566: Med. 465-476; 575-578; 
670-739; 752-811; 817-842: Oed. 559-573: Phaed. 420-421; 790-792. 



INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ROMAN MAGIC 31 

overdoing the magic element at times ; 162 but in all these 
instances, the magic is in accord with the character in the play, 
and does not represent the opinion of the author. Seneca's 
real personal belief can best be seen in his remarks concerning 
the magic hail averters of Cleonae: 163 

Illud incredibile, Cleonis fuisse publice praepositos chalazophylacas, 
speculatores venturae grandinis. Hi cum signum dedissent adesse 
iam grandinem, quid expectas? ut homines ad paenulas discurrerent 
aut ad scorteas? Immo pro se quisque alius agnum immolabat, 
alius pullum: protinus illae nubes alio declinabant, cum aliquid gus- 
tassent sanguinis. Hoc rides? Accipe quod magis rideas: si quis 
nee agnum nee pullum habebat, quo sine damno fieri poterat, manus 
sibi afferebat, et, ne tu avidas aut crudeles existimes nubes, digitum 
suum bene acuto graphio pungebat et hoc sanguine litabat; nee minus 
ab huius agello grando se vertebat quam ab illo, in quo maioribus 
hostiis exorata erat. 

Rationem huius rei quaerunt. Alteri, ut homines sapientissimos 
decet, negant posse fieri, ut cum grandine aliquis paciscatur et tem- 
pestates munusculis redimat, quamvis munera et deos vincant. Alteri 
suspicari ipsos aiunt esse in ipso sanguine vim quandam potentem 
avertendae nubis ac repellendae. Sed quomodo in tarn exiguo sanguine 
potest esse vis tanta, ut in altum penetret et illam sentiant nubes? 
Quanto expeditius erat dicere: mendacium et fabula est. . . . Rudis 
adhuc antiquitas credebat et attrahi cantibus imbres et repelli, quorum 
nihil posse fieri tarn palam est, ut huius rei causa nullius philosophi 
schola intranda sit. 

The same attitude is somewhat perceptible in Seneca's 
nephew, Lucan. Notwithstanding his elaborate magic scene 
in the sixth book of the Pharsalia, 164 we are not sure of his 

162 This is especially true of the Medea. 

163 Nat. Quaest. 4b, 6-7. Cf . 1, 1, 3-4 for a similar disbelief in meteors 
as prodigia. Again, in 7, 1, 2, he calls the popular fear of eclipses a super- 
stitio vana. He wrote a work De Superstitione, which is now, unfortunately, 
lost; but his general attitude of mind may be gathered from the foregoing 
passages. 

164 430-830. 



32 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

belief or disbelief in magic. 165 He himself asks why it is that 
magic is superior to the gods, compelling the latter to do the 
magician's will, 166 but offers no direct answer to his question. 
He does say, however, that the forces of nature obey the witch, 
Erictho, as a result of compulsion rather than through the 
power of religion, for she does not acknowledge religious rites. 167 
On the contrary, she strikes fear into the hearts even of the 

® ' Omne nefas superi prima iam voce precantis 

concedunt carmenque timent audire secundum. 168 

Yet Lucan, in this same passage, 169 speaks of magic as a vanus 
saevusque furor. He seems indeed to delight in this magic 
scene, and to appreciate its dramatic possibilities ; but whether 
he really extended the Stoic belief in divination to the point 
of making it include magic and necromancy we cannot telh 170 
Does he really believe magic to be a vanus saevusque furor, 
or is he one of those who accepted more of the popular belief 
in magic than we are accustomed to think? I am inclined to 
hold that, like his uncle, Seneca, Lucan really scorned magic, 
but could not forego the opportunity to introduce the long 
witch scene into Book 6 because of its very great dramatic 
possibilities. 

Apuleius, too, in making his defence against the charge of 
having practiced magic, adopts the usual philosophic attitude 
of opposition. 171 

165 Cf. Ludovicus Fahz, De Poetarum Latinorum Doctrina Magica 
(Giessen, 1904), Chapter 3, especially 148-167, where the author seeks to 
prove that the magic details of Book 6 are taken from a Greek manual of 
magic. 166 6, 492-499. 167 6, 523-525. 168 6, 527-528. 169 434. 

170 An interesting paragraph concerning the belief of the Stoics in 
divination and similar matters, together with a complete list of passages 
from the Pharsalia bearing upon the subject, is given by W. E. Heitland 
in his Introduction (p. xlv) to Haskins's edition of the Pharsalia (Lon- 
don, 1887). Cf. supra, n. 160; H. J. Rose, in Trans, and Proc. of Am. 
Phil. Assn., 44, pp. 1-lii; supra, n. 165. 

171 Cf. Apol. 47 (quoted supra, 13). 



INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ROMAN MAGIC 33 

(4) The Lyric and Elegiac Poets and Magic 

The lyric and elegiac poets, on account of the nature of their 
themes, and also on account of their great indebtedness to 
Greek originals, both for subject matter and for treatment, 
are too far removed from Roman daily life to be of very great 
value to our survey. Yet even in this field of literature we 
shall not fail to find interesting material. 

Catullus, for instance, repeats what appears to have been 
a popular tradition to the effect that a magus must be the off- 
spring of a mother and her own son: 172 

Nam magus ex matre et gnato gignatur oportet, 

si vera est Persarum impia religio, 
gratus ut accepto veneretur carmine divos. . . . 

It seems likely that the foregoing passage does not reflect a 
native Italian belief; but certain recipes, given for averting 
the evil eye, surely have all the flavor of a native belief, for 
they are spoken in the heat of a passionate love, when the 
lover is altogether himself, that is, a thorough Italian: 173 

dein, cum milia multa (basia) fecerimus, 
conturbabimus ilia, ne sciamus, 
aut ne quis malus invidere possit, 
cum tantum sciat esse basiorum. 

and again: 174 

(basia) quae nee pernumerare curiosi 
possint nee mala fascinare lingua. 

and finally: 175 ,.*,.. 

Ille pulvens Africi 

siderumque micantium 

subducat numerum prius, 

qui vestri numerare vult 

multa milia ludi. 

172 90, 3-6. This tradition, Diogenes Laertius tells us (1, 6 or Proem. 6 
[Cobet]), was quoted from Sotion. 

173 5, 10-13. 174 7, 11-12. 175 61, 206-210. 



34 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

It is these passages that caused Pliny to say 176 that Catullus 
wrote an incantamentorum amatoria imitatio. In view of these 
passages I am led to believe that, though Catullus openly and 
specifically condemns the magi, he quite as naturally betrays 
in his poems of intense personal revelation his own unconscious 
acceptance of the naive magic beliefs of his fellow Italians. 177 

In Tibullus the magic element is more pronounced. The poet 
lover represents himself as having had recourse to a practicing 
maga, of whose power he says: 178 

Nee tamen huic credet coniunx tuus, ut mihi verax 

pollicita est magico saga ministerio. 
Hanc ego de caelo ducentem sidera vidi, 

fluminis haec rapidi carmine vertit iter, 
haec cantu finditque solum manesque sepulcris 

elicit et tepido devocat ossa rogo. . . . 

There are three other passages in which the poet seems to indi- 
cate his personal belief in magic. In the first, 179 Tibullus 
represents himself as actually participating in a bit of counter- 
magic ; in the second, 180 he describes his mistress as being under 
the spell of a Una who is skilled in magic, and begs her to break 
away from this baleful influence ; in the third, 181 he expresses 
the belief that perhaps he has been bewitched by some old 
woman. But in close proximity to all of the foregoing passages 
are others which indicate that the poet is inclined to speak 
metaphorically of the magic of love. Thus, for instance, in 

176 N. H. 28, 19 Hinc (i.e. e diris precationibus) Theocriti apud Graecos, 
Catulli apud nos proximeque Vergilii incantamentorum amatoria imita- 
tio. In this passage the word imitatio does not imply that Catullus imi- 
tated any other author, as the genitive Theocriti shows, but rather that the 
playful spirit of the love lyric merely imitated the dire incantamentum of 
the darker side of life. 

177 See, in addition to the passages already cited, his references to the 
popular belief in the good omen of sneezing (45, 8-9; 17-18). 

178 1, 2, 41-64. 180 1, 5, 41-60. 

179 1, 5, 9-14, especially 11-12. 181 1, 8, 17-24. 



INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ROMAN MAGIC 35 

one passage 182 the charge that his mistress has bewitched 
him he answers by saying that she has indeed bewitched him, 
but by her beauty rather than by the usual magic means. In 
another passage 183 he speaks of himself as having his arms 
bound by the magic bonds of love. This tendency to speak 
metaphorically of the magic of love leads us to suspect that 
Tibullus was following a sort of poetic tradition regarding magic 
in love, without necessarily indicating his personal views. 

A study of Propertius leads me to the same conclusion. He 
does at times, indeed, seem to strike a genuine Italian note, 
as when he attributes the estrangement of lovers to the evil 
eye, 184 or to some magic drug, or indicates a general popular 
belief in the efficacy of rhombuses and other instruments of 
magic. 185 Popular beliefs are also probably reflected when he 
describes a Una as having been a powerful sorceress, 186 and 
mentions the magic power of saliva 187 and of certain herbs. 188 

But, like Tibullus, Propertius shows a tendency to speak 
metaphorically of love's magic. He informs us 189 that, in 
accordance with Calliope's injunction, his function will be to 
compose verses by means of which the lover shall charm his 
mistress from her austere husband ; it is very apparent that 
this magic of a well composed love song is quite different from 
the common black magic with which we are concerned. At 
other times his references to magic are of the purely literary 
and traditional type. 190 

182 1, 5, 41-44. Cf. also 1, 8, 23-24. ™ 1, 8, 6-6. 

184 1, 12, 9-10. But even in this passage the poet seems to think 
that the invidia comes from the gods. 

185 3, 6, 25-34: 2, 286, 35-38. 

186 4, 5, 1-18. Professor Kirby F. Smith maintains (Studies in Honor 
ofB. L. Gildersleeve [Baltimore, 1902], 287; id. Am. Journ. of Phil. 28, 3) 
that the lenae as a class were quite generally believed to have magic power. 
There seems to be much evidence in support of this view. Cf., e.g., 
Martial, 9, 29, 9-10; Tibullus, 1, 5, 48. 187 4, 7, 37. 

188 4, 7, 72. 189 3, 3, 47-50. 190 As in 2, 1, 51-56; 4, 7-8. 



36 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

It is worthy of note that neither Tibullus nor Propertius 
anywhere uses a derogatory epithet in connection with magic ; 
but this bit of negative evidence need not be considered of 
great value. With the erotic poets it seems, indeed, to have 
become a fad to appeal to magic in the furtherance of love. 
How much of this was due to literary convention or to foreign 
borrowing, and how much to genuine conviction we cannot 
tell. 191 It seems certain, however, that such a convention 
could not have come into existence unless there had been a 
substantial body of popular or even personal belief behind it. 
Pliny's remark, too, 192 that Catullus wrote an incantamentorum 
amatoria imitatio, if taken in connection with his accompany- 
ing discussion of early Roman magic, indicates that to him at 
least such passages in the poets were not altogether the result 
of convention. 

Horace, in his Odes, does not seem to have followed his erotic 
contemporaries, for he furnishes only one passing reference to 
magic. 193 

Ovid, though he amused the literary set at Rome with his 
countless stories of metamorphoses and other marvels, mostly 
from the Greek, more nearly expresses his own views when 
he says of the old legends: 194 

Prodigiosa loquor veterum mendacia vatum; 
nee tulit haec umquam nee feret ulla dies. 

191 Ludovicus Fahz, in his dissertation entitled De Poetarum Romanorum 
Doctrina Magica (Giessen, 1904), Chapter 3, seeks to show that the 
Roman poets in such matters were to a great extent following Greek 
magic papyri. 

192 Cf. supra, 34, n. 176. 

193 1, 27, 21-22 

Quae saga, quis te solvere Thessalis 
magus venenis, quis poterit deus? 

It is noteworthy that the magus is here placed on a par with the deus. 

194 Am. 3, 6, 17-18. 



INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ROMAN MAGIC 37 

Yet even he yields half-assent when the practices of magic are 
veiled under the guise of religion. 195 

The epigrams of Martial are practically free from references 
to magic. 196 

(5) The Satirists and Magic 

In the satura, on the other hand, we have the right to expect 
a more complete reflection of popular ideas. The satura is a 
type of poetic composition which, with its musa pedester, 
should give us some idea of Roman magic as it was actually 
practiced. In Lucilius, however, the first great satirist, there 
are only four passages 197 at all relating to magic, and of these 

195 In Fasti 5, 429-444 we have a description of the means whereby 
the Roman householder sought to drive the lemures from his home by a 
religio-magic ceremony. In spite of certain verbal indications that the 
poet is here reporting popular beliefs and practices, he does not seem to 
be wholly out of sympathy with the ancient custom. The passage runs 
as follows: 

Nox ubi iam media est, somnoque silentia praebet 

et canis et variae conticuistis aves, 
ille memor veteris ritus timidusque deorum 

surgit; habent gemini vincula nulla pedes: 
signaque dat digitis medio cum pollice iunctis, 

occurrat tacito ne levis umbra sibi. 
Cumque manus puras fontana perluit unda, 

vertitur, et nigras accipit ante fabas, 
aversusque iacit. Sed dum iacit, "Haec ego mitto, 

his" inquit "redimo meque meosque fabis." 
Hoc novies dicit, nee respicit. Umbra putatur 

colligere et nullo terga vidente sequi. 
Rursus aquam tangit, Temesaeaque concrepat aera, 

et rogat, ut tectis exeat umbra suis. 

Cum dixit novies "Manes exite paterni", 

respicit, et pure sacra peracta putat. 

196 He does indeed tell us (9, 29, 9-10) of a certain old woman who had 
during her life been a powerful sorceress, and that sleep at Rome was 
much disturbed by. the noisy efforts of magicians to call down the moon 
(12, 57, 15-17) ; but these are only passing references. 

197 These are (ed. Marx) vss. 62-63, 575-576, 1201-1202, and the 
passage quoted in the following note. 



38 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

only one 198 has sufficient context to enable us to draw con- 
clusions regarding the author's views. He seems to have con- 
sidered himself superior to popular belief, which is exactly 
what one would expect of Lucilius, the eques Romanus, . 

Horace, on the other hand, in his Epodes and Satires paints 
many a true picture of the daily practices of the masses at 
Rome. Thus, in the fifth Epode we meet four witches who are 
busily engaged in burying a boy alive, in order that from the 
marrow of one who has died of starvation, with an accompany- 
ing intense desire for food set just beyond his grasp, a philter 
may be made which should fill the absent lover with a similar 
intense desire for his mistress. The usual magical details are 
introduced profusely. 199 We meet two of these same sorceresses 

198 484-489 

Terriculas, Lamias, Fauni quas Pompiliique 
instituere Numae, tremit has, hie omnia ponit, 
Ut pueri ini antes credunt signa omnia aena 
vivere et esse homines, sic isti somnia ficta 
vera putant, credunt signis cor inesse in aenis. 
^ergula fictorum veri nihil, omnia ficta. 

199 Magic details are: purity of victim, impube corpus, 13; hair un- 
loosed, incomptum caput, 16 (cf. also 27); gruesome details, 17-18; frog 
as magic animal, 19; owl, 20; magic plants, 17, 21-22, 67-68; water 
from Lake Avernus, 26. The usual feats of magic, such as controlling 
stars and moon, are mentioned, 45-46; night and Diana are addressed, 
49-54; etc. It is not unlikely that such murders of children actually 
occurred. C. H. Moore, in his edition of the Odes and Epodes,, page 415, 
quotes Cicero, In Vat. 14 cum inaudita ac nefaria sacra susceperis, cum 
inferorum animas elicere, cum puerorum extis deos manes mactare soleas, 
etc., and C. I. L. 6, 19, 747 Iucundus Liviae Drusi Caesaris f (ilius) Gryphi 

et Vitalis. 

In quartum surgens comprensus depnmor annum, 

cum possem matri dulcis et esse patri. 
Eripuit me saga manus crudelis ubique, 

cum manet in terris et nocet arte sua. 
Vos vestros natos concustodite, parentes, 

ni dolor in toto pectore fixsus eat. 

There can be no doubt that the Roman populace believed implicitly in 
such magic practices. 



INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ROMAN MAGIC 39 

in the abandoned cemetery of the Esquiline, 200 attempting, 
by means of sympathetic magic, involving a waxen and a 
woolen image, to subdue an obdurate lover ; again all the cus- 
tomary magic details are employed. 201 That Horace is deriding 
magic in both of these poems seems to me apparent from his 
mock palinode, Epode seventeen. 202 And yet, notwithstanding 
his skepticism regarding magic and marvels, 203 he exhibits a 
fondness for wandering among the fakers of the circus. 204 
Even in his later, more sophisticated prime, he does not en- 
tirely deny the power of divination 205 and he mentions sorcer- 
esses in the same breath with gods. 206 There are charms, he 
tells us, to dispel avarice, as well as a manual of magic con- 
taining cures for vanity of spirit. 207 The evil eye is still to him 
a possible source of danger, 208 though he may smile at those 
who are the slaves of dreams, magic terrors, omens, witches, 
hobgoblins, and Thessalian portents. 209 

Persius heaps scorn upon popular magic beliefs, 210 yet he 

200 Sat. 1, 8, 17-50. Cf. supra, 9-10, and n. 43. 

201 Magic details are: the gruesome in magic compounds, 22, 26-29; 
magic herbs, 22, 49; black as a magic color, 23, 27; nudity in magic, 24; 
hair unloosed, 24; sympathia or similia similibus, 30-33; wolf's beard and 
serpent's tooth in magic, 42; licium or magic thread, 49-50. Hecate and 
Tisiphone are invoked, 33-34. 

202 This conclusion is sound, I think, even if we agree with E. H. Sturte- 
vant (Class. Rev. 26 [1912], 19-21) that Canidia was a reality. For a 
similar slighting attitude toward divination, cf. Sat. 1, 9, 29-34. For 
Horace's general attitude toward marvellous tales, see Ars Poet. 338-340. 

203 Cf. Sat. 1, 5, 99-101. 204 Ibid. 1, 6, 113-114. 

205 Carm. 1, 11, 1-3. 

206 Ibid. 1, 27, 21-22. The playful spirit of this and the preceding 
passage need not cause us to change our estimate of Horace's attitude 
toward magic. 

207 Epist. 1, 1, 32-36. This manual may be nothing more than a sound 
philosophical treatise of such a character as to correct a vain disposition. 
Or it may be, on the other hand, that Horace is here merely indulging in 
a little fun. 208 Ibid. 1, 14, 37-38. 209 Ibid. 2, 2, 208-209. 

210 Sat. 2, 31-34. For similar scorn for eastern religions as practiced 
at Rome, cf . Sat. 5, 179-188. 



40 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

leaves the impression that such beliefs were very common 
among all but philosophers. Juvenal gives only passing refer- 
ences to magic practices, but they are all very slighting in 
tone. 211 It is apparent from his writings that both rich and poor 
believed implicitly in all kinds of magic practices. 

Of the writers of Saturae Menippeae Varro presents nothing 
worthy of note in the extant fragments, 212 whereas Petronius 
contains much interesting material. This brings us to our best 
division, the writers of prose romances. 

(6) The Writers of Prose Romances and Magic 

At Trimalchio's dinner one of the guests commends the good 
old religio-magic custom in accordance with which the matrons 
used to march up the Clivus Capitolinus with hair unloosed 
and feet bare to pray to Jupiter for rain ; 213 another regales 
the company with the story of a werwolf, in which he himself 

211 In 6, 133-134 he mentions hippomanes and carmen as ingredients 
of a philter;* in 6, 610-611 we read: hie magicos adfert cantus, hie Thes- 
sala vendit philtra. ... In 6, 443 he tells of a woman who could assist 
the moon in overcoming an eclipse. According to one interpretation, a 
boasting lawyer spits on his breast to avoid the evil effect of his boasting, 
7, 112. On the other hand Juvenal flays unsparingly in much more ex- 
tended passages the prevailing rage for astrology and fortune telling: 
6, 553-564; 569-691: 7, 194-196; 199-200: 9, 33. He depicts the Em- 
peror Tiberius at Capri cum grege Chaldaeo (10, 94), but portrays the good 
old Roman as saying motus astrorum ignoro (3, 42-43). 

212 I used Buechler's text, bound with his fifth edition of Petronii 
Satirae (Berlin, 1912). Fragments 284, 285, 490 seem to refer to magic. 

213 Sat. 44. The loosing of hair and the baring of feet are well known 
magic acts. Frazer, G. B. 1, 1, 309, quotes for similar magic acts among 
the Greeks and the Romans in order to produce rain, Pausanias, 2, 25, 10; 
Marcus Antoninus, 5, 7; Tertullian, Apol. 40; P. Cauer, Delectus Inscrip- 
tionum Graecarum 2 , No. 162; H. Collitz und F. Bechtel, Sammlung der 
griechischen Dialekt-Inschriften, No. 3718; Ch. Michel, Recueil d 'inscrip- 
tions grecques, No. 1004; O. Luders, Die dionysischen Kunstler (Berlin, 
1873), 26 f. Cf. especially M. H. Morgan, Rain Gods and Rain Charms, 
in Trans, of Am. Phil. Assn. 32 (1901), 83-109. 



INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ROMAN MAGIC 41 

was a principal actor; 214 whereupon the host launches upon a 
tale of personal experiences with strigae. 215 Both stories are 
accepted in good faith by the assembled guests as being matters 
of fairly common occurrence. 216 Later in the Satirae mention 
is made of sorceresses who know how to draw down the moon, 217 
excite desire, 218 and even control all the forces of nature. 219 
We are not here concerned with the small details about good 
luck days, 220 the auspicious right foot, 221 how to win a fortune 
by snatching an incubo's cap, 222 astrology, 223 and the efficacy 
of spitting upon one's breast to appease Adrasteia ; 224 all these 
things, however, lend to the entertaining work of Petronius the 
true flavor of real life among the Roman populace. In the 
whole work there is not a suggestion that any of the characters 
disbelieves a single miraculous tale. It is true that the nar- 
rator, who probably represents the author's views, does display 
throughout an amused superiority to all that is going on around 
him; but in no instance does Petronius utter a word against 
magic. He was either not altogether free from belief in such 
tales as the above, or else he had the good judgment not to 
mar his excellent picture of social life among the vulgar rich 

214 52. For a full discussion of the werwolf cf. Kirby Flower Smith, 
in Pub. of the Mod. Lang. Assn. of America, 9 (1894), 1-42; S. Baring- 
Gould, The Book of Were-wolves (London, 1865); and especially Wilhelm 
Hertz, Der Werwolf (Stuttgart, 1862). Friedlaender, in his edition of the 
Cena Trimalchionis 2 (Leipzig, 1906), 317, refers also to J. Grimm, Deutsche 
Mythologie (Berlin, 1877), 915 If.; Keller, Tiere des klassischen Altertums, 
165 n\; and particularly Pischel, on Petronius, Sat. 62 (Abhand. f. M. 
Hertz [1888], 70). 

215 63. For a similar story compare Ovid, Fast. 6, 141-168; quoted in 
part infra, 64. For a definition of striga cf . Festus (ed. Lindsay), p. 414. 

216 When the first story is completed, Trimalchio (63) attests his be- 
lief with the words, "scio Niceronem nihil nugarum narrare," and, at the 
conclusion of the second story, the general attitude is expressed (64) by 
"Miramur nos et pariter credimus, osculatique mensam rogamus Noc~ 
turnas, ut suis sedibus se teneant, dum redimus a cena." 

217 129. 219 134. 221 30. 223 39; 126. 

218 23^ 220 3Q 222 3g_ 224 H\^ 



42 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

of Nero's reign by injecting into it any of the skepticism affected 
by the upper classes. 

The entertaining Satirae of Petronius almost inevitably 
suggest the equally entertaining Metamorphoses of Apuleius, 
a tale so fantastic that it had much to do with fastening upon 
its author in future centuries the reputation of a magus. - h 
The story deals with 

figuras fortunasque hominum in alias imagines conversas et in se 
rursum mutuo nexu refectas; 226 

but, preceding the main story of the transformation, and inter- 
woven with it, are lesser tales of sagae, who are able 

caelum deponere, terrain suspendere, fontes durare, montes diluere, 
manes sublimare, deos infimare, sidera extinguere, Tartarum ipsum 
inluminare. 227 

The action of the main story takes place in Thessaly, the 
home of magic. 228 The hero, Lucius, having seen his hostess, 
Pamphile, transform herself into an owl and fly away, 229 begs 
the latter's maidservant to grant him the privilege of doing 
likewise. Unwillingly consenting, the young woman orders 
him to undress and anoint himself with the ointment which 
she gives him. Unfortunately, the wrong ointment is used 
and Lucius ruefully finds himself changed not into a bird, as 
he desired, but into an ass. 230 The rest of the tale concerns 

225 Upon the reputation of Apuleius as a magician Teuffel, Rom. Lit. 
§ 366. 3, quotes Augustinus, Ep. 2, Quaest. 6 (2, p. 426c, ed. Gaume, Paris, 
1838); Epist. 136, 1; Ep. 138, 18; Laetantius, Inst, 5, 3. 7; Monceaux, 
Apidee magicien, in Rev. de deux mondes, 1 (1888), 572. Yet Augustinus, 
at least, shows (C. D. 8, 19) his acquaintance with the Apologia and Apu- 
leius's formal condemnation of magic therein contained. 226 1, 1. 

227 1, 8. The incidental magic tales are found in Met. 1, 9-20: 2, 21-30: 
3, 16-18: 9, 29-31. *» 2, 1. 223 3, 21. 

230 3, 24-25. Cf. H. T. Peck, Trimalchio's Dinner (New York, 1899), 
Introd. 41. Professor Peck's statement that Lucius ''accidentally swal- 
lowed a magic potion which turned him into an ass" is not in accord 
with the words of Apuleius (1. c), cuncta corporis mei membra perfricui. 



INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ROMAN MAGIC 43 

the fortunes of this human ass and his final restoration to his 
original form, not through magic, but through the intervention 
of Isis. 231 

We have noted above 232 that, when Trimalchio's guests 
told their wonderful, weird stories, no one in the company dis- 
believed. We may now go one step further in stating that 
Apuleius himself apparently believed in the magic stories 
which he relates. He is very likely speaking for himself when 
he makes one of his characters say at the conclusion of a magic 
story : 233 

Ego vero . . . nihil impossibile arbitror, sed utcumque fata 234 
decreverint ita cuncta mortalibus pro venire: nam et mihi et tibi 
et cunctis hominibus multa usu venire mira et paene infecta, quae 
tamen ignaro relata fidem perdant. Sed ego huic . . . credo. . . . 

Of his mysticism in general there is abundant evidence in the 
whole eleventh book of the Metamorphoses, where he turns 
what had started out as a magic tale into a highly mystical 
conclusion, in which Isis plays the leading part. 

Certain it is that of the two sole extant specimens of Roman 
prose fiction, 235 one introduces a number of magic stories, while 
the other is characterized throughout by a " brooding sense 
of magic " 236 and mysticism. The magic element is in Apuleius 
no longer incidental; it has become the principal element in 
the composition; and we must see in this growth, I think, 

231 Met. 11, 6; 12-13. Cf. Purser, The Story of Cupid and Psyche 
as related by Apuleius (London, 1910), Introd. xix-xxi. 

232 Supra, 41. 233 Met. 1, 20. 

234 The context forbids us to interpret fata in this passage as opposed 
to the magic control of nature; for the two witches of the story preceding 
this passage had given ample proof of their control over natural forces. 
The fates, then, in this instance seem merely to have decreed that the two 
women of the story should have these magic powers. 

235 Cf . H. T. Peck, Trimalchio's Dinner, 1-44, for an interesting account 
of prose fiction among the Greeks and the Romans. Pages 40-44 especially 
concern us here. 236 Cf . Mackail, Latin Literature, 241-242. 



44 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

the line of development of popular taste among the Romans 
during the century that separates Petronius and Apuleius. 
It is just because the mystic Apuleius had gained such a grip 
upon the reading public of a later day that the Christian 
fathers classed him with Apollonius of Tyana as the magician 
rival of Jesus Christ. 237 

Nor was Apuleius's reputation as a magus entirely posthu- 
mous; for a few years, perhaps, after the publication of the 
Metamorphoses, 238 his marriage to a rich widow of Oea gave 
occasion for a lawsuit, in which it was alleged by the relatives 
of the bride that she had been won by magic arts. 239 His de- 

237 Teuffel, Rom. 6 Lit. § 366. 3, gives the following passages to sub- 
stantiate this point: Augustinus, Ep. 2, Quaest. 6 Si hoc quod de Iona 
scrip turn est Apuleius Madaurensis vel Apollonius Tyaneus fecisse diceretur, 
quorum multa mira nullo fideli auctore iactitant . . .; Epist. 138, 1 
Apollonium siquidem suum nobis et Apuleium aliosque magicae artis 
homines in medium proferunt, quorum maiora contendunt extitisse 
miracula . . .; Ep. 138, 18 Apollonium et Apuleium ceterosque magicarum 
artium periti^simos conferre Christo vel etiam praeferre conantur; Lac- 
tantius, Inst. 5, 3, 7 Apuleium, cuius solent et multa et mira memorari. 
See P. Monceaux, Apulee magicien, in Rev. de deux mondes, 1 (1888), 572. 

238 Whether or not the Metamorphoses was published before the de- 
livery of the Apologia we cannot say certainly. Cf. Teuffel, Rom. Lit. 6 
§ 367. 1. Purser, however, in the Introduction to his work, The Story of 
Cupid and Psyche as Related by Apuleius (London, 1910), pp. xv-xxiv, 
gives what appear to me good reasons for believing that the Metamorphoses 
was published anonymously at Rome some years before the Apologia. He 
further attempts to show that the book probably had no great success 
at the time of publication, and that it had not, at the time the Apologia 
was delivered, become known in Africa. This would account for the 
fact that the enemies of Apuleius did not use it as evidence that Apuleius 
was an adept in magic. Finally, he maintains that the work was never 
acknowledged by Apuleius as his, for the reason that in his after years 
as a fashionable teacher of philosophy he was not proud of his earlier 
effort. W. E. Foster, in a Columbia University dissertation (New York, 
1912), Studies in Archaism in Aulus Gellius, 10, inclines to the opinion 
that the Metamorphoses is a youthful work of Apuleius. See also Helm, 
in the Praefatio to his edition of the Florida, x f . 

239 Apol., Chapters 27, 41, 66, 71, 90, 102. 



INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ROMAN MAGIC 45 

fence, extant under the title of Apologia, brilliantly ridicules 
the charge, from which he was no doubt acquitted. 240 As a 
matter of fact, in his defence Apuleius even seems to condemn 
magic as illegal and as dangerous to the best interests of the 
community, 241 though in another place he expressly states his 
belief in the existence of magi. U2 From all the evidence at 
our command it seems fair to conclude that Apuleius, as a 
mystic dabbler in literature, science, and philosophy, was 
intimately acquainted with all the magic lore of his day, be- 
lieved in it to some extent, and knew thoroughly how to utilize 
it in his popular writings; but that his later reputation as a 
practicing magus is not based upon any substantial evidence. 
He is the victim of the popular fallacy that they who know 
about magic practice it themselves. 243 

(7) The Historians and Magic 

The Roman historians also show traces of a belief in magic. 
Of the Origines of Cato the extant fragments contain no magic 
passages. 244 The fragments of Varro's Antiquitates Rerum 
Divinarum, a work which must originally have contained a 
mine of information upon our subject, are more fruitful. It is 

240 That the presiding judge, the proconsul Claudius Maximus (cf. 
Teuffel, Rom. Lit. 6 § 358. 4) was a Stoic philosopher, and hence probably 
tinged with mysticism, may have made his task easier. 

241 Apol. 47, quoted supra, 13. 

242 Ibid. 43 quanquam Platoni (Sympos. 202E) credam, inter deos 
atque homines natura et loco medias quasdam divorum potestates intersi- 
tas, easque divinationes cunctas et magorum miracula gubernare. From 
such passages we may surmise that Apuleius's Liber Naturalium Quaes- 
tionum, of which he speaks rather grandiloquently in Apolog. 36, may not 
have been without a mystical element. 

243 Apuleius, Apol. 27 eos vero vulgo magos nominent, quasi facere 
etiam sciant quae sciant fieri, ut olim fuere Ipimenides. . . . Cf. also 
supra, 10. 

244 For the fragments cf. H. Peter, Historicorum Romanorum Frag- 
menta (Leipzig, 1883), 43-65. 



46 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

very likely that the following passages concerning Cunina, the 
goddess of the cradle, are from this work: Adest oculum 
gravem ad cavendum sumministratque quietem Cunina ; 248 
and again, Colitur et Cunina, quae . . . fascinum submovet. 246 
If this be true, the great antiquarian attributed to Cunina the 
power to protect children from the evil eye; though he need 
not be supposed personally to have shared this popular belief. 247 
In like manner he speaks of the popular method of expelling 
lemures from the home, 248 and speculates in a popular manner 
about the magic number seven. 249 The source of the magic 
stories quoted from Varro by Apuleius 250 can not be determined, 
nor is there any means of deciding whether the scholarly writer 
of the original believed his own tales or not. Perhaps Varro's 
real attitude toward such stories is best given in his celebrated 
werwolf tale, quoted by Augustine, 251 who intimates that the 

245 Quoted by Tertullian, Ad Nat. 2, 11, in a discussion of the multi- 
plicity of Roman gods. 

246 Lactantiu^, Inst. Div. 1, 20, 36. These two passages are attributed 
to Varro by R. Agahd, M. Terenti Varronis Antiquitatum Rerum Divinarum 
Libri (Leipzig, 1898), p. 170, fragmenta 23 A and 23B. 

247 The power of the evil eye could also be averted from fields by a 
similar use of the fascinum or membrum virile employed as an amulet. 
This is shown by Augustine's quotation from Varro's Antiq. Rer. Div. 
(16, 42 ed. Agahd), found in his C. D. 7, 21 Cui membro inhonesto matrem 
familias honestissimam palam coronam necesse erat inponere. Sic vide- 
licet Liber deus placandus fuerat pro eventibus seminum, sic ab agris 
fascinatio repellenda, . . . 

248 Cf. Nonius Marcellus, p. 197 (ed. Lindsay) Lemures, larvae noc- 
turnae et terrificationes imaginum et bestiarum; Varro De Vita Populi 
Romani lib. I ' quibus temporibus in sacris f abam iactant noctu ac dicunt 
se Lemurios domo extra ianuam eicere.' Cf. Ovid, Fasti 5, 421 ff., quoted 
in part supra, 37, n. 195. 

249 Imaginum lib. I, apud A. Gellium, N. A. 3, 10. 

250 Apolog. 42. 

251 C. D. 18, 17, taken probably from the De Gente Populi Romani, as 
Peter thinks (Histor. Rom. Frag. pp. 233-234) Nee idem propter aliud 
arbitratur historicus in Arcadia tale nomen adfictum Pani Lycaeo et 
Iovi Lycaeo nisi propter hanc in lupos hominum mutationem, quod earn 



INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ROMAN MAGIC 47 

great polymath was more interested in the anthropological and 
philological aspect of the story than in the popular and the 
superstitious. Varro's researches in the history of certain kinds 
of magic are also attested, 252 and we are informed that he at- 
tempted a rational explanation of such phenomena. In fact 
there is no evidence whatever that he was not rationalistic 
throughout, at least when expressing his formal opinions, 
regarding magic. 

Turning now to the Roman historians whose works have 
survived either in their entirety or to a large extent, we shall 
find that, though Tacitus alone has given us a rather clear 
indication of his views upon magic, 253 most of the historians 
have given some evidence of their beliefs concerning the sub- 
ject. In general they impress us as men whose intellectual 
advancement compelled them to contemn popular superstition 
and magic, though their early training and un veneered natures 
yielded unconscious assent, at least in part, to those very be- 
liefs and practices. It was this mixture of rationalism and 
magic practice which led Caesar to secure a safe carriage ride 
by means of a thrice repeated charm, 254 though he did not hesi- 
tate to allow his personal ambitions to outweigh popular belief 
whenever occasion demanded. 255 Nor did he fail to interpret 



nisi vi divina fieri non putarent. . . . Romanos etiam Lupercos ex illorum 
mysteriorum veluti semine dicit exortos. For a similar rationalizing 
tendency cf. Lingua Latina 7, 4:4:1 97 (edd. Goetz und Schoell, Leipzig, 
1910), where the origin of the argei and the bulla is discussed. Cf. also 
Servius on Vergil, Aen. 11, 787, quoted supra, 28, n. 147. 

252 Cf. Augustinus, C. D. 7, 35 Quod genus divinationis (i.e. necroman- 
tiae) idem Varro a Persis dicit allatum. . . . Quid mihi ergo Varro illorum 
sacrorum alias nescio quas causas velut physicas interpretatur? 

253 See infra, 50-51. 

254 Pliny, N. H. 28, 21 Caesarem dictatorem post unum ancipitem vehi- 
culi casum ferunt semper, ut primum consedisset, id quod plerosque nunc 
f acere scimus, carmine ter repetito securitatem itinerum aucupari solitum. 

255 Suetonius, Caes. 59 Ne religione quidem ulla a quoquam incepto 
absterritus umquam vel retardatus est. Cum immolanti aufugisset hostia, 



48 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

to his personal advantage any ominous occurrence. 256 In like 
manner, though he appears to have believed in prodigies, 267 
he was quick to take advantage of the superstitious beliefs of 
others. 288 In a word, he appears superior to popular magic 
and superstition in general and skeptical concerning them, 
though cherishing his own personal beliefs and practices. 

Of Sallust's attitude toward magic there is not enough evi- 
dence to justify an opinion. 259 

Livy nowhere expresses his personal opinion about magic. 
The great number of prodigia 260 contained in his work is 
doubtless an inheritance from the Annalists whom he followed, 
and perhaps a concession to popular belief. Moreover, since 
prodigies are sent by the gods to warn men, they belong to 
the field of religion rather than to magic. Livy does, however, 
repeat many stories that combine magic with religion, apparently 
without recognizing the magic element. Numa, for instance, 
according to one of his stories, draws Jupiter from heaven by 
magic, 261 and Tullus Hostilius attempts unsuccessfully to imi- 

profectionem adversus Scipionem et Iubam non distulit. Prolapsus etiam 
in egressu navis verso ad melius omine, "Teneo te," inqmt, "Africa." 
The same story with slight variations is told by Frontinus, Strat. 1, 12, 
2 C. Caesar, cum forte conscendens navem lapsus esset, "Teneo te, terra 
mater," inquit, qua interpretatione effecit, ut repetiturus illas a quibus 
proficiscebatur terras videretur. 256 Cf . Suetonius, Caes. 32. 

257 Bellum Civ. 3, 105 Item constabat Elide in templo Minervae . . . 
simulacrum Victoriae ... ad valvas se templi limenque convertisse. 

258 Frontinus, Strat. 2, 1, 16 C. Caesar in Gallia, quia compererat 
Ariovisto . . . institutum et quasi legem esse non pugnandi decrescente 
luna, turn potissimum acie commissa impeditos religione hostes vicit. 
Cf. Bell. Gall. 1, 50 for the same facts. 

259 The only reference in point is Bell. Cat. 47, 2, where, as in Cicero, 
Cat. 3, 9, Lentulus affirms that he is fated to rule o^er Rome, because he 
is the third Cornelian to arrive at supreme power. 

260 Cf. Weissenborn's ed., vol. 6, Index, s. v. prodigia. 

261 1, 20, 7. Cf. J. Ennemoser, History of Magic (Eng. transl., London, 
1893), 1, 420. The antiquity of this practice is questioned by Fowler, 
Relig. Exper. of the Rom. People, 51 f. 



INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ROMAN MAGIC 49 

tate him. 262 Attus Navius cleaves a whetstone with a razor, 263 
the protecting divinities are evoked from the cities of the enemy 
by means suggesting magic, 264 sacred places are not to be spat 
upon, 265 and pestilences are controlled by driving the sacred 
nail. 266 In all these passages the magic element had apparently 
become fossilized before Livy's day, and was unrecognized as 
such by him. On the other hand, he must have recognized 
as magic the custom of beating on metal in order to assist the 
moon from an eclipse; 267 in this case, however, the absence 
of any adverse comment cannot be interpreted as approval. 
It is probable, I think, that Livy believed somewhat in the 
religio-magic stories of early Rome, though to him the magic 
element had become entirely submerged in the religious 
overgrowth. 268 

Though Velleius Paterculus seems to have believed in astrol- 
ogy 269 and omens, 270 his formal conclusion about such matters 
is represented by the following words: 271 Sed profecto ineluc- 
tabilis fatorum vis cuiuscumque fortunam mutare constituit 
consilia corrumpit. A similar fatalistic belief is characteristic 
of Curtius Rufus also, 272 who, though delighting to tell marvel- 
lous stories to a public which wanted them, dealing out omens 
second-hand under the label dicuntur , 273 and frankly admitting 

262 1, 31, 5-8. 264 5, 21, 3-5; 22, 3-6. 

263 1, 36, 4. 265 5, 40, 8. 

266 7, 3, 3-9: 8, 18, 4-13: 9, 28, 6; 34, 12. Cf. Cambridge Companion 
to Latin Studies, § 147; Fowler, Roman Festivals, 234-235. 

267 26, 5, 9. The Campanian multitude is described as beating upon 
brazen vessels: qualis in defectu lunae silenti nocte cieri solet, edidit 
clamorem, ut averteret etiam pugnantium animos. 

268 It may be, of course, that the inclusion of prodigies, marvels, and 
fossilized religio-magic customs to so large a degree in his history was in 
direct response to the wish of Augustus, and in the interest of the latter's 
deliberately planned religious revival. 

2f * Cf. 2, 24, 3. 27 ° Cf. 2, 46, 3; 57, 1-3; 59, 6. 271 2, 57, 3. 

272 Cf. 4, 6, 17 inevitabile estfatum. See also Teuffel, Rom. Lit. 6 § 292. 3, 
at end. 273 8, 9, 33. 



50 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

that he is reporting more than he believes, 274 speaks of the 
magic art as vanissimi cuiusque ludibrium. 275 He speaks dis- 
paragingly also of superstition 276 and of astrology. 277 

The attitude of Tacitus toward magic and astrology can 
scarcely be doubted. He believed in astrology but despised 
astrologers. 278 He is uncertain what should be the historian's 
attitude toward portents, 279 but as a rule omits them. That he 
believed in magic is, I think, certain, for the following reason: 
he has very many occasions to recount the accusation of magic 
brought against specific individuals in court, as though such 
practices were matters of everyday occurrence, 280 yet in no 
instance does he speak of the charge as absurd or groundless. 
Moreover, the very number of such accusations shows that the 
classes as well as the masses looked seriously upon them. 
When, however, Tacitus has occasion to give a more detailed 
account of magic acts, we do not feel so certain of his belief. 
For instance, in recounting the wonderful cures wrought by 
Vespasian at Alexandria, though he appears to give full credence 

274 9, 1, 34 Equidem plura transcribo quam credo; nam nee adfirmare 
sustineo de quibus dubito, nee subducere quae accepi. 

275 7, 4, 8. It should be noted in passing, however, that the magi 
mentioned in 3, 3, 10 and 5, 1, 22 are 'magians/ not 'magicians.' 

276 4, 3, 23; 6, 12; 7, 26; 7, 29; 10, 7: 7, 7, 8. 

277 8, 9, 33: 10, 4. 

278 In Ann. 4, 58 he narrates how the facts revealed by astrology came 
true, but the interpretation put upon those facts by the astrologers was 
false: Mox patuit breve confinium artis (i.e. astrologiae) et falsi, veraque 
quam obscuris tegerentur. Cf. especially Ann. 6, 22 Ceterum plurimis 
mortalium non eximitur, quin primo cuiusque ortu ventura destinentur; 
sed quaedam secus, quam dicta sint, cadere fallaciis ignara dicentium: 
ita corrumpi fidem artis, cuius clara documenta et antiqua aetas et nostra 
tulerit. Cf. also Hist, 1, 22: 2, 78; Ann. 2, 27; 32: 3, 22: 6, 20-21: 
12, 22; 52; 68: 14, 9 for further references to astrology. 

279 Hist. 2, 50 Ut conquirere fabcilosa et fictis oblectare legentium animos 
procul gravitate coepti operis crediderim, ita volgatis traditisque demere 
fidem non ausim. 

280 Ann. 2, 27-28; 69: 3, 13: 4, 22; 52: 6, 29: 12, 22; 65: 16, 31. 



INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ROMAN MAGIC 51 

to the facts narrated, 281 he yet seems to believe that the Em- 
peror acts merely as the avenue through which the numen of 
the god operates. In his more mature years, as represented in 
the Annates, when he has to describe the magic details sur- 
rounding the death of Germanicus, he carefully inserts the 
non-committal word creditur. 282 He speaks respectfully, how- 
ever, of the magorum sacra when he writes of the expulsion of 
the magi from Italy. 283 He is, of course, superior to the popular 
magic beliefs connected with eclipses of the moon, 284 as was 
every other cultivated Roman of his day. 

We may conclude, therefore, from his avowed belief in as- 
trology, and his failure to express any disbelief in the possi- 
bility of magic, though he possessed so many opportunities 
for doing so, that he really believed in magic, at least in a 
modified manner. 285 

Suetonius is careful not to express a personal opinion 
regarding the many details of omens, 286 superstition, 287 

281 Hist. 4, 81. This passage relates how, at the admonition of Serapis, 
a lame man and a blind man of Alexandria besought Vespasian to cure 
them by magic means. It concludes thus: Igitur Vespasianus cuncta 
fortunae suae patere ratus nee quicquam ultra incredibile, . . . erecta 
quae adstabat multitudine, iussa exsequitur. Statim conversa ad usum 
manus, at caeco reluxit dies. Utrumque qui interfuere nunc quoque 
memorant, postquam nullum mendacio pretium. Teuffel (Rom. Lit. 6 
§ 333. 9) seems to conclude from the last sentence of the above quoted 
passage that Tacitus regarded the whole story as a mendacium. To me, 
however, Tacitus seems to say that even at the time of writing, when all 
hope of reward for falsehood had disappeared, eye-witnesses continue to 
vouch for the story, and thus its veracity seems proved to his mind. 

282 Ann. 2, 69 et reperiebantur solo ac parietibus erutae humanorum 
corporum relixuiae, carmina et devotiones et nomen Germanici plumbeis 
tabulis insculptum, semusti cineres ac tabo obliti aliaque malefica, quis 
creditur animas numinibus infernis sacrari. Such a use of creditur is at 
best merely non-committal. 283 Ibid. 2, 27-32. 284 Ibid. 1, 28. 

285 Cf. supra, nn. 281, 282. 

286 Aug. 92; 94: Caes. 59; 81: Calig. 57: Claud. 1, 2; 22; 29, 3; 46: 
Tiber. 72; etc. 287 Aug. 6; 92: Caes. 88: Nero 56. 



52 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

astrology, 288 amulets, 289 and magic, 290 of which he writes. But 
we may judge from his avowed superstition, 291 and from the 
very frequency with which he refers to the occult without 
unfavorable comment, that he was fond of such details, and 
probably believed in magic. Nor will his occasional apparent 
superiority to popular beliefs 292 cause us to change our opinion 
of him. He is not the first, as we have shown, whose intellect 
bade him scorn popular belief in magic, while his heart still 
clung to it. 

The Scriptores Historiae Augustae contain very little regard- 
ing magic, though they have their quota of references to as- 
trology, 293 omens, 294 and sortes. 295 Spartianus does indeed call 
magic amentia, 296 and apparently approves of the punishment 
of such persons as were proved guilty of wearing amulets 

288 Aug. 94, 5: Calig. 57, 2: Domit. 14, 1: Nero 36: Otho 4, 1; 6, 1; 
Tiber. 69; Vitel. 14, 4. 

289 Nero 6, 4. 

290 Aug. 9(k Nero 34, 4: Vespas. 7: Vitel. 2, 4. 

291 Cf. Pliny, Epist. 1, 18 addressed to Suetonius: Scribis te perter- 
ritum somnio vereri, ne quid adversi in actione patiaris, . . . 

292 As in Nero 36 Stella crinita, quae summis potestatibus exitium por- 
tendere vulgo putatur. . . . 

293 Spartianus, Geta2, 6; 3, 1: Severus 2, 8-9; 4, 3; 15, 5: Hadrianus 
2, 4; 16, 10: Pescennius Niger 9, 5-6; Julius Capitolinus, Marc. Anton. 
19, 3: Helv. Pert. 1, 3: Gord. Tres 20, 1; Aelius Lampridius, Heliog. 9, 1: 
Diad. Anton. 5, 4: Alex. Sever. 27, 5; 44, 4. 

294 Spartianus, Did. Jul. 7, 1: Sever. 1, 6ff.; 3, 4: Geta 3, 2ff.; Aelius 
Lampridius, Diad. Anton. 4, Iff.: Alex. Sever. 13, 1 ff.; 60, 3ff.; Julius 
Capitolinus, Anton. Pius 3, 1: Marc. Anton. Phil. 4, 3: Max. Duo 30, 
1 ff.; Flavius Vopiscus, Aurel. 5, Iff.: Tac. 17, 1 ff. 

295 Cf . Scriptores Hist. Aug., ed. Peter, vol. 2, Index, s. v. sortes. 

296 Did. Jul. 7, 9-10 Fuit praeterea in Iuliano haec amentia, ut per 
magos pleraque faceret, quibus putaret vel odium populi deleniri vel 
militum arma compesci. Nam et quasdam non convenientes Romanis 
sacris hostias immolaverunt et carmina profana incantaverunt et ea, quae 
ad speculum dicunt fieri, in quo pueri praeligatis oculis incantato vertice 
respicere dicuntur, Iulianus fecit. Tuncque puer vidisse dicitur et ad- 
ventum Severi et Iuliani decessionem. 



INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ROMAN MAGIC 53 

in order to cure tertian and quartan fever. 297 Lampridius 
mentions the most horrible magic rite with very mild dis- 
approval. 298 The general state of public opinion during the 
latter part of the second and the early part of the third cen- 
turies of our era may be inferred from the fact that two Em- 
perors, 299 at least, of this period actually practiced magic. 

During the next century, when the Christian Emperors were 
exerting their utmost strength against all non-Christian influ- 
ences, it is not surprising to find countless prosecutions on the 
charge of magic, concerning which one may read in the pages 
of Ammianus Marcellinus. 300 At this period not only the 
active practitioners of magic, but passive believers as well, 
were spied out by delatores and punished. 301 Throughout his 
work, Ammianus, as a heathen eye-witness of this struggle, 
appears to be at least tolerant of the much prosecuted magic 
and opposed to the base devices of the delatores. 

Along with the historians may be mentioned Frontinus, who 
in his Strategemata not only shows himself to be a rationalist, 
but also represents nearly all his heroes as equally above popular 

297 Anton. Carac. 5, 7 damnatis et qui remedia quartanis tertianisque 
collo adnexa gestarunt. 

298 Anton. Heliogab. 8, 2 Omne denique magorum genus aderat illi 
operabaturque cottidie hortante illo et gratias dis agente, quod amicos 
eorum invenisset, cum inspiceret exta puerilia et excruciaret hostias ad 
ritum gentilem suum. Cf. also 9, 1. 2 " Cf. nn. 296, 298. 

300 Cf. Rer. Gest. Lib. 16, 8, 2: 19, 12, 14: 29, 2, 28. 

301 Ammianus Marcellinus, Rer. Gest. Lib. 29, 2, 2-3, describes the con- 
duct of a certain official named Palladius : Nanctus enim copiam nominandi 
sine f ortunarum distantia quos voluisset ut artibus interdictis imbutos, ita 
ut ferarum occulta vestigia doctus observare venator, multos inter casses 
lugubres includebat, quosdam veneficiorum notitia pollutos, alios ut ad- 
petitoribus inminuendae conscios maiestatis. Et ne vel coniugibus mari- 
torum vacaret miserias flere, inmittebantur confestim qui signatis domibus 
inter scrutinia suppellectilis poenis addicti, incantamenta quaedam anilia 
vel ludibriosa subderent amatoria, ad insontium perniciem concinnata: 
quibus in iudicio recitatis . . . indef ensi ... ad supplicia sellis gestatorii9 
ducebantur. 



54 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

superstitions and magic, though at the same time able to use 
such beliefs to their personal advantage. 302 

(8) The Encyclopaedists and Magic 

It is among the Latin authors who wrote works of an ency- 
clopaedic or miscellaneous character, however, that we should 
more naturally look for statements throwing light upon Roman 
magic; and in this number we should place Varro, Nigidius 
Figulus, Valerius Maximus, Aulus Gellius, and Pliny the Elder. 
The attitude of Varro and Nigidius toward magic has already 
been discussed. 303 Valerius Maximus contains no clear refer- 
ence to magic. 304 Though he condemns astrology severely, 305 
and is superior to the popular superstition regarding eclipses, 306 
he accepts without comment Livy's miraculous tale of Attus 
Navius, unaware of its magic quality ; 307 apparently believes 
in the wonderful tales, omens, and prodigies which he himself 
repeats ; 308 and shares in the folk belief regarding the ill luck 
of stumbling. 309 He would therefore appear to resemble 
Suetonius and others in possessing a mental superiority to 
belief in magic, coupled with an actual acceptance of some, 
at least, of its practices. 

Aulus Gellius also presents a similar mixture of formal superi- 
ority to magic and actual belief in magic. First we have to 
note that he has preserved for us a very valuable list of the 

302 Cf. Strat. 1, 11, 12-14; 12, 1-8: 2, 1, 16. 

303 Yot Varro cf. supra, 45-47; for Nigidius Figulus cf. supra> 17-18. 

304 This is disappointing, especially since the headings of Book I seem 
so promising. These headings are: (1) De Religione, (2) De Simulata 
Religione, (3) De Superstitionibus, (4) De Auspicio, (5) De Ominibus, 
(6) De Prodigiis, (7) De Somniis, (8) De Miraculis. 

305 1, 3, 3 Excerpt. Par. 

306 8, 11, 1. 307 1, 4, 1. 

308 Cf. 1, 1, 7; 1, Excerpt. Par. and Nep. 5; 4, Excerpt. Par, and Nep. 
5-6; 6, 1-5: 5, 6, 2-3. 
809 1, 4, 2 Excerpt. Par. 



INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ROMAN MAGIC 55 

taboos surrounding the person of the Flamen Dialis ; 310 but, 
since to him these curious details were caerimonia, m and inter- 
esting only to the curious scholar, we cannot draw from this 
important passage any conclusion as to his personal views 
concerning magic. He does, however, speak of magic prac- 
tices in another passage 312 as deridicula vanitas and fallax 
inlecebra, and seeks to justify the inclusion of such matters 
in his work. In the same spirit of mental superiority he 
apologizes for repeating stories about the evil eye and similar 
marvels : 313 

Haec atque alia istiusmodi plura legimus; sed, cum ea scriberemus, 
tenuit nos non idoneae scripturae taedium nihil ad ornandum iuvan- 
dumque usum vitae pertinentis. 

Again, he vigorously defends the philosopher Democritus 
against the charge made by Pliny that he was a devotee of 
magic and an authority upon the subject. 314 

But, notwithstanding his formal disapproval of magic, he 
appears to share the popular belief regarding the magic charms 
of the Marsi and the Psylli, 315 the possibility of change of 

310 10, 15 entire. This chapter, so important to the history of Roman 
magic and religion, Gellius tells us (10, 15, 1), is taken from the sacerdotal 
manuals and Fabius Pictor. 

311 10, 15, 1. 

312 10, 12, 4 Item aliud, quod hercle an ponerem dubitavi — ita est 
deridiculae vanitatis — , nisi idcirco plane posui, quod oportuit nos dicere, 
quid de istiusmodi admirationum fallaci inlecebra sentiremus, qua ple- 
rumque capiuntur et ad perniciem elabuntur ingenia maxime sollertia 
eaque potissimum, quae discendi cupidiora sunt. 

313 9, 4, 11-12. 

314 10, 12, 6-8. See also his apparent approval of the elaborate argu- 
ment of Favorinus against astrology (14, 1 entire). 

315 16, 11, 1-3 Gens in Italia Marsorum orta fertur a Circae fiUo. Prop- 
terea Marsis hominibus . . . vi quadam genitali datum, ut et serpentium 
virulentorum domitores sint et incentionibus herbarumque sucis faciant 
medelarum miracula. Hac eadem vi praeditos esse quosdam videmus, 
qui Psylli vocantur. 



56 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

sex, 316 and the frequently fatal effect of the sixty-third year of 
a man's life. 317 One may suspect, therefore, that he really 
believed in these vanitates more than he himself was aware. 

We have already said 318 that Pliny the Elder, while appear- 
ing to condemn magic most severely, really believed in the de- 
tested art much more than he thought. 319 To prove this asser- 
tion we shall be compelled to content ourselves with only a 
small proportion of the vast amount of material at our com- 
mand. It is true that he denounces magicae vanitates 32 ° in 
no uncertain terms, and especially Democritus, as the great 
teacher of the art. 321 Asclepiades, the physician, is taken to 
task for mingling too much magic with his medicine. 322 The 

316 In 9, 4, 14-15 he quotes with approval a story of Pliny in which the 
latter vouches personally for a marvellous change of sex: Verba igitur 
haec . . . ipsius sunt, . . . quae profecto faciunt, ut neque respuenda 
neque ridenda sit notissima ilia veterum poetarum de Caenide et Caeneo 
cantilena. 

317 15, 7, 1-3. This year, called the KkinaKTrjpLKbv, was probably thought 
of as 3x3x7, thils involving both of the sacred or magic numbers, and one 
of them, 3, in its square. A thorough consideration of the number three 
as a magic number in Latin literature is worthy of a special paper, which 
the author hopes soon to be able to publish. 

318 Supra, 17. 

319 For an excellent treatment of Pliny's attitude toward magic cf. 
L. Thorndike, The Place of Magic in the Intellectual History of Europe 
(Columbia University dissertation, New York, 1905), 37-55. 

320 This is his usual expression for the magic art. Cf. N. H. 30, 1 
Magicas vanitates saepius quidem antecedente operis parte, ubicumque 
causae locusque poscebant, coarguimus detegemusque etiamnum. Then 
follow paragraphs 1-28, the most elaborate discussion of magic in Latin 
literature (used above, 19-21). Other passages in which he speaks of 
magicae vanitates are: 22, 20: 26, 18: 27, 57: 28, 85: 29, 81-82: 37, 118; 
164. Cf. also 37, 169 for magorum insidiae. Other uncomplimentray 
terms might be cited. 

321 Cf. 24, 160: 25, 13-14: 26, 19: 30, 9-10: 32, 49. Against such a 
view of Democritus cf. A. Gellius, N. A. 10, 12 entire. Cf. supra 55, and 
n. 314. 

322 Qf 26, 18-20 Super omnia adiuvere eum (i.e. Asclepiadem) magicae 
vanitates in tantum evectae, ut abrogare herbis fidem cunctis possent. . . . 



INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ROMAN MAGIC 57 

magi are very often held up to scorn, 323 though at other times 
he speaks of their beliefs and practices apparently with com- 
plete approval. 324 To be more specific, he discredits the belief 
in such powerful magic animals as the werwolf, 325 the strix 326 
and the bubo. 327 He does not believe in the magic control of 
lightning, 328 hail, 329 crops, 330 or health. 331 He derides the belief 
in magic plants, 332 gems, 333 and amulets, 334 and regarding popular 
superstitions of various sorts bids each of his readers ut cuique 
libitum fuerit opinetur. m Prodigies too, he maintains, are 
within the interpretative control of each individual. 336 

On the other hand, he appears to believe in the evil eye, 337 
fire-walking, 338 power to vanish, 339 and power to change one's 
sex. 340 He also believes in the influence of the moon's phases 

Then follows a list of wonderful herbs and the powers attributed to them 
by Asclepiades, all of which Pliny ridicules: Ubinam istae fuere, cum 
Cimbri Teutonique terribili Marte ulularent aut cum Lucullus tot reges 
Magorum paucis legionibus sterneret? etc. For a more detailed discus- 
sion of magic in its relation to the prevention of disease cf . infra, 61-123. 

323 24, 160: 26, 19-20: 28,85-86; 89-90; 92-106; 188 (cf . 30, 16): 29, 
53; 68; 76: 30, 1-28: 32, 49: 37, 155-156; 165; 169; 192. 

324 25, 129: 28, 69: 29, 59; 66; 138: 37, 133; 135; 142; 144. 

325 8, 80-82. 

326 11, 232. For a discussion of the strix in ancient literature, cf. Samuel 
Grant Oliphant, The Story of the Strix: Ancient, in Transact, of Am. Philol. 
Assn. 44 (1913), 133-149; ib. 45 (1914), 49-63. 

327 29, 81-82. 33 ° 18, 41-43. Yet cf. 28, 17-18. 

328 2, 140-141: 28, 14. 331 17, 267: 26, 18-20: 28, 7. 

329 17, 267: 28, 29; 77. 332 25, 10-11; 25: 26, 18-20. 

333 37, 118; 155-156; 164-165; 169; 192. 

334 37, 118; 169. 335 28, 29. 

336 28, 17 Haec satis sint, exemplis ut appareat, ostentorum vires et 
in nostra potestate esse ac, prout quaeque accepta sint, ita valere. 

337 7, 16-18: 28, 22. 

338 7, 19. For a detailed discussion of the magic practice of walking 
on red-hot stones, see Andrew Lang, Magic and Religion (London, 1901), 
270-294; and supra, 28, and n. 147. 

339 7, 32. But in 33, 8 the story of Midas's wonderful ring is called 
fabulosus. 340 7, 36. 



58 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

upon various phenomena of nature, 341 the wonderful magic 
effect of menstrual blood, 342 and probably in that pagana lex 
which forbade women to twist their spindles as they walked 
along the country roads, quoniam adversetur id omnium spei, 
praecipue frugum. uz These beliefs are all based upon sym- 
pathetic magic, and there are not lacking abundant additional 
examples of Pliny's belief in such a sympathia or antipathia in 
nature. 344 There is luck, he believes, in odd numbers, 345 es- 
pecially the number three ; 346 the magic circle is effective ; 347 
iron is taboo; 348 and the magic effect of spitting is recognized. 349 
The magic power of certain words and formulae is especially 
availing. 350 Notwithstanding contrary statements made else- 

341 16, 193-194: 24, 149: 29, 59. 

342 7, 64-65: 17, 266. Cf., however, 28, 77-80, where he expresses 
disbelief . 343 28, 28. 

344 18, 160-161; 197: 22, 20: 24, 172: 28, 30-33; 263-267: 29, 67: 

30, 143: 37, 142. 345 10, 151: 28, 23. 

346 24, 172: 25, 148; 167: 28, 36. 347 21, 42: 25, 50. 

348 24, 149. £ut in 36, 100 he attempts to rationalize this belief . 

349 28, 35-39 Omnium vero in primis ieinuams alivam contra serpentes 
praesidio esse docuimus, sed et alios efficaces eius usus recognoscat 
vita. Despuimus comitiales morbos, hoc est contagia regerimus. Simili 
modo et fascinationes repercutimus dextraeque clauditatis occursum. 
Veniam quoque a deis spei alicuius audacioris petimus in sinum spuendo, 
et iam eadem ratione terna despuere precatione in omni medicina mos 
est atque ita effectus adiuvare, incipientes furunculos ter praesignare 
ieiuna saliva. The passage continues in similar vein through § 39. Cf. 
also 10, 69: 24, 172: 25, 167: 30, 17; 108: 32, 92. 

360 28, 10-14 Ex homine remediorum primum maximae quaestionis 
et semper incertae est, polleantne aliquid verba et incantamenta carminum. 
Quod si verum est, homini acceptum fieri oportere conveniat, sed viritim 
sapientissimi cuiusque respuit fides, in universum vero omnibus horis 
credit vita nee sentit. Yet, in the face of this statement of disbelief in 
magic words, Pliny states that the history of Rome supplies various 
instances of effective magic carmina. In 28, 12 we read: extat Tucciae 
Vestalis incesti deprecatio, qua usa aquam in cribro tulit. . . . And again, 
Cuius sacri precationem, qua solet praeire XV virum collegii magister, 
si quis legat, profecto vim carminum fateatur. In § 13 he continues: 
Vestales nostras hodie credimus nondum egressa urbe mancipia fugitiva 



INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ROMAN MAGIC 59 

where by him, 351 Pliny admits that there are effective magic 
plants, 352 gems, 353 animals, 354 and amulets. 355 He even suggests 
countercharms to his detested magic, which are themselves 
magic. 356 

In view of this conflicting evidence we must agree with Dr. 
Thorndike 357 that "in regard to magic in particular Pliny 
seems to have flattered himself that his position was quite 
different from what it actually was," and, to quote that scholar 
further, 358 that "it hardly seems paradoxical to say that he 
hated the magi but liked their doctrines/ ' just as Tacitus 359 
believed in astrology but despised astrologers. 

If, therefore, we are justified in assuming that Pliny was a 
representative man of science and learning among the Romans, 
and that he was even superior to the average man of letters in 
his tendencies toward a rational view of the phenomena of 
nature and human conduct, the evidence in his case can but 
strengthen the conclusion, already frequently drawn, that 
Roman authors, as a rule, when expressing the sober verdict 
of their reason, unequivocally and honestly condemn all magic 
practices ; but in their hearts they cherish, and in their writings 
unwittingly display the magic heritage of the Italian race. 360 

retinere in loco precatione. ... It is true that these users of magic are 
priests and priestesses; but the power attributed to them is magic, never- 
theless. 

351 Cf. supra, 57. 353 37, 135; 142; et passim. 

352 25, 50; 127; 129. 354 17, 265. 

355 29, 67; 77: 32, 24; 44; 74; 114, etc. For aumlets in preventive 
medicine cf . infra, 76-105. 

356 Cf. 28, 85 Id quoque convenit, quo nihil equidem libentius cre- 
diderim, tactis omnino menstruo postibus inritas fieri Magorum artes, 
generis vanissimi, ut aestimare licet. Cf. also 25, 127: 32, 33. 

357 Mag. in Intell. Hist, of Europe, 41. 

358 Mag. in Intell. Hist, of Europe, 45. 
369 Cf . supra, 50, and n. 278. 

360 Cf. the conclusions reached regarding Columella, supra, 27; Cato, 
26-27; Varro, 27; 45-47; the writers on philosophy, 29-32; Catullus, 33-34- 



60 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

A discussion of the attitude of Roman medical writers is 
reserved for the succeeding chapter. It is sufficient here to 
say that none of the purely Roman medical writers is free from 
a tendency toward magic. 

In the foregoing pages I have attempted to show that among 
the Romans the conception of magic was essentially what it 
is among us. Furthermore, it is apparent from a consideration 
of Roman law, religion, science, folk belief, and literature, 
that magic was peculiarly prevalent among the Romans from 
the earliest times, and was not primarily an imported Greek 
or Oriental product, important as additions from those sources 
undoubtedly were. Finally, the attempt of cultivated Romans 
to assume an air of superiority to these earlier beliefs does not 
convince us of their genuine advance beyond a real belief in 
such matters ; and it is not difficult in many cases to remove 
the cover and expose the real Roman with his inherited belief 
in magic sho # wing itself through the veneer of Greek polish. 
This literary attitude exerted practically no effect upon pop- 
ular belief in magic, which retained its influence throughout 
the Republic and the Empire, even into the Christian Italy of 
to-day. 361 

Tibullus and Propertius, 34-36; Ovid, 36-37; Horace, 38-39; Petronius, 
40-42; Apuleius, 42-45; Caesar, 47-48; Livy, 48-49; Tacitus, 50-51; 
Suetonius, 51-52; Ammianus Marcellinus, 53; Valerius Maximus, 54; 
A. Gellius, 54-56. 

361 These facts can be presented with greater detail and convincingness 
in the succeeding chapter. 



CHAPTER II 

MAGIC AND THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE 

On account of the universal and continuous importance of 
magic in ancient Italy it will be manifestly impossible to treat 
the subject in its entirety in an essay of the present compass. 
There were, however, some problems of life that to the early 
Italian appeared beyond ordinary human solution, and that 
offered, accordingly, a peculiarly inviting field for the employ- 
ment of magic. Of these none was more important than the 
problem of preventing or curing human physical ills. It is 
the purpose of the present chapter, therefore, to show that the 
Romans of all periods resorted to magic as a supplement to 
medicine in general, and to make a detailed study of their use 
of prophylactic magic. 1 This end can be satisfactorily attained 
by a consideration of (1) the relation of medical magic to 
religion; (2) the relation of medical magic to scientific medi- 
cine ; (3) prophylactic magic among the Romans. 

I. Medical Magic and Religion 

(1) The Gods as Workers of Magic. — The proof we have 
already offered 2 that the earliest Roman religion contained 
many magic elements will be strengthened by a closer study 
of the medical magic of Italy. 

Concerning the advent of religion among primitive peoples 
there is much that is in dispute. It seems probable, however 

1 The Romans made use of magic in curative and causative as well 
as in preventive medicine. The limitations of space, however, will not 
permit the treatment of these important divisions of our subject in this 
dissertation. 2 Supra, 24-25. 



62 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

that in the early history of any people magic is older than 
religion, 3 and that the transition from magic to religion is 
marked by the belief that the gods themselves are magicians. 4 
Latin literature furnishes considerable proof in support of the 
latter part of this theory, for literary tradition clearly indi- 
cates that the earliest Romans of whom we have a record 
were in a state of civilization where they had gods, it is true, 
in addition to magic; but those gods themselves practiced 
medical as well as other magic, and were approached by their 
devotees with rites which contained many magic elements. 

The following stories from Ovid will show the use of magic 
by early Roman gods. In the first story Juno is depicted as 
preventing for a time the birth of Hercules : s 

Utque meos audit gemitus, subsedit in ilia 
ante fores ara, dextroque a poplite laevum 
pressa genu et digitis inter se pectine iunctis 
sustinuit partus. Tacita quoque earmina voce 
dixit, e^- incoeptos tenuerunt earmina partus. 



Una ministrarum, media de plebe, Galanthis, 

flava comas, aderat, faciendis strenua iussis, 

officiis dilecta suis. Ea sensit iniqua 

nescio quid Iunone geri : dumque exit et intrat 

saepe fores, divam residentem vidit in ara 

bracchiaque in genibus digitis conexa tenentem, 

et "Quaecumque es," ait, "dominae gratare. Levata est 

Argolis Alcmene, potiturque puerpera voto." 

Exsiluit, iunctasque manus pavefacta remisit 

diva potens uteri: vinclis levor ipsa remissis. 

3 This theory, advanced by Frazer (G. B. 1, 1, 220-243), seems to me 
on the whole to be more reasonable than any other that has yet been 
proposed. Vigorous opponents of Frazer's view are, however, not lacking 
(see, e. g., Lang, Mag. and Rel. 46-75). Mr. F. B. Jevons (Hist, of Rel. 
24-40) has suggested another view, which regards neither magic nor 
religion as of necessarily earlier occurrence. 

* Cf. Frazer, G. B. 1, 1, 240-242. 5 Met. 9, 297-315. 



MAGIC AND THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE 63 

In the foregoing passage Juno not only uses silent charms to 
accomplish her purpose, but crosses her knees and interlocks 
her fingers, 6 with the expectation that by such action she will 
lock up or prevent the birth of the child. It naturally follows, 
therefore, that, when the goddess is induced through a stratagem 
to unlock her fingers and uncross her knees, the magic power 
vanishes. 

That this story contains genuine Italian elements seems clear 
from the following passage in Pliny : 7 

Adsidere gravidis vel cum remedia alicui adhibeantur digitis pec- 
tinatim inter se implexis veneficium est, idque compertum tradunt 
Alcmena Herculem pariente; peius, si circa, unum ambove genua; 
item poplites alternis genibus inponi. Ideo haec in consiliis ducum 
potestatiumve fieri vetuere maiores velut omnem actum inpedientia; 
vetuere vero et sacris votisve simili modo interesse. 

From this it would appear not only that Juno used magic to 
accomplish her ends; but also that the ancient Roman law- 
makers, Pliny's maiores, considered magic acts like hers more 
powerful than either worldly powers or religion. 

The second story of Ovid represents as a magician the ancient 
Italian goddess, Carna, whose function it was to protect in- 
fants frOm the assaults of striges.* In writing of an infant who 
has been attacked by these creatures, the poet says : 

6 For similar uses of the interlace in preventive magic, see, besides 
the passage from Pliny, quoted below, Leland, Etrusc. Rom. Rem. 165-172. 
Closely related to the interlace is the taboo on knots in general, of which 
Frazer has given some interesting examples (G. B. 2, 293 ff.). Cf. also 
infra, 100. 

7 N. H. 28, 59. 

8 Fasti 6, 147-168. For striges cf. supra, 57, n. 326. Carna seems to 
have been the protectress of the heart, liver, viscera, etc. Hence her 
protective acts in this case are easily understood. Cf. Wissowa, Religion 
und Kultus, 236. For the antiquity of the goddess and her cult cf . Fowler, 
R. F. 130-133; Roscher, Lex. 1, 854-855. 



64 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

Territa voce sui nutrix accurrit alumni, 

et rigido sectas invenit ungue genas. 
Quid faceret? Color oris erat, qui frondibus olim 

esse solet seris, quas nova laesit hiems. 
Pervenit ad Cranaen, et rem docet. Ilia "Timorem 

pone! Tuus sospes," dixit, " alumnus erit." 
Venerat ad cunas: flebant materque paterque: ' 

"Sistite vos lacrimas: ipsa medebor! " ait. 
Protinus arbutea postes ter 9 in ordine tangit 

fronde, ter arbutea limina 10 fronde notat, 
spargit aquis aditus — et aquae medicamen habebant — 

extaque de porca cruda bimenstre tenet, 
atque ita "Noctis aves, extis puerilibus," inquit, 

"parcite: pro parvo victima parva cadit. 
Cor pro corde, precor, pro fibris sumite fibras. 

Hanc animam vobis pro meliore damus." u 
Sic ubi libavit, prosecta sub aethera ponit, 

quique adsint sacris respicere ilia vetat : 12 
virgaque Ianalis de spina ponitur alba, 13 

qua lumen thalamis parva fenestra dabat. 
Post illud nee aves cunas violasse feruntur, 

et rediit puero, qui fuit ante, color. 

Here we have a goddess whom, were it not for Ovid's explicit 
statement of her divine origin (1. 101), any casual reader would 

9 For the use of the number three in Roman magic cf . infra, 119, n. 283, 

10 For other instances of the threshold in Roman medical magic cf. 
Columella, 7, 5, 17; Pliny, N. H. 29, 83: 30, 82: 34, 151; Marcellus 
Empiricus, 1, 65: 2, 4: 4, 27: 14, 66: 16, 21: 23, 35; 50: 25, 35; and 
especially M. B. Ogle, The House-Door in Greek and Roman Religion and 
Folk-Lore {Am. Journ. of Phil 42 [1911], 251-271). 

11 The principle upon which this substitution is based is known as 
similia similibus (cf. supra, 9, n. 41). 

12 A similar prohibition is characteristic of the ancient rites of the 
Lemuralia (cf. supra, 37, n. 195). That those who were engaged in magic 
cures were likewise enjoined not to look behind them is made clear by 
Pliny, N. H. 21, 176: 24, 104: 29, 91; Marcellus Empiricus, 1, 54: 8, 52: 
25, 11. 

13 Of the whitethorn as a countercharm I have been unable to find 
other instances, except, of course, lines 129-130 of this passage. 



MAGIC AND THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE 65 

consider a mere magician. The frightened nurse runs to her, 
as to an earthly friend, for aid, which the goddess gives in 
person. Like any mortal magician she touches the door-posts 
and the threshold of the nursery three times with the arbutus 
twig, sprinkles the entrance with holy water, and practices 
a perfect bit of sympathetic magic by sacrificing a pig of two 
months, with the accompanying conjuration that the striges 
shall accept this substitute and return the entrails of the infant 
to their proper place. The entrails of the pig are then placed 
in the open air, probably in order that the striges may have 
easy access to them, unmolested by any backward glances of 
mortals. Finally, the window is made impassable for striges 
by means of a twig of the mystic whitethorn, the home is 
freed from the possibility of further unwelcome visits of these 
creatures, and the color of health returns to the cheek of the 
stricken infant. 

Ceres, 14 Diana, 15 and even Aesculapius 16 also resorted to 
medical magic, but their acts are connected with Greek myth 17 
rather than with Roman folk lore. Of strictly Italian flavor, 
however, is the tradition that the miraculous medical powers 
of the Marsi were given only to those of the tribe whose descent 
from the magician-goddess, Circe, was uncontaminated by 
alien blood. 18 From this we may be permitted to conclude that 

14 Ovid, Fasti 4, 549-554. 15 Ibid. 6, 746-754. 

16 Hyginus, Astron. 2, 14. On incubation, as practiced in the temples 
of Aesculapius, cf. Magnus, Superst. in Med. 50-56. This temple sleep, 
as a means of curing disease, seems to have been based on genuine religious 
feeling rather than on magic. 

17 That the Homeric gods indulged freely in magic we have already 
shown (supra, 19, n. 97). 

18 In A. Gellius, N. A. 16, 11, 1-2 we read: Gens in Italia Marsorum 
orta fertur a Circae filio. Propterea Marsis hominibus, quorum dumtaxat 
familiae cum externis cognationibus nondum etiam permixtae corruptaeque 
sunt, vi quadam genitali datum, ut et serpentium virulentorum domitores 
sint et incentionibus herbarumque sucis faciant medelarum miracula. 



66 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

Circe herself used her magic drugs not only to effect transforma- 
tions, but also to produce cures. 19 

If the tradition, as represented in the passages quoted above, 
is correct in attributing medico-magic functions to the early- 
Italian gods, we should expect to find the priests who served 
those gods equally versed in curative magic. Such a union of 
the priestly office with that of the medical magician is indeed 
represented by Vergil 20 as characteristic of Italy at the time 
of the arrival of Aeneas. In those early days popular and 
even state customs exhibit a mixture of medical magic with 
religion. 21 The gods were besought for medical aid with a 
combination of prayer and spell, 22 and pestilence was thought 
to be controlled by the ancient custom of driving a nail "into 
the wall of the cella of Minerva in the Capitoline temple." 23 

19 Her more obscure sister, Angitia, says Solinus (2, 29), was famous 
for her healing art. Such traditions would make it much easier to explain 
the continued worship of Circe at Circeii as Circe sanctissima (cf . Wissowa, 
Religion und m Kultus, 542, n. 5). 

20 Aen. 7*750-758, Cf. supra 24. 

21 Augustine (C. D. 6, 9) has preserved for us the detpils of a religious 
custom which shows how closely early Italian religion was allied to magic : 
mulieri fetae post partum tres deos custodes commemorat (sc. Varro) 
adhiberi, ne Silvanus deus per noctem ingrediatur et vexet, eorumque 
custodum significandorum causa tres homines noctu circuire limina 
domus et primo limen securi ferire, postea pilo, tertio deverrere scopis, ut 
his datis culturae signis deus Silvanus prohibeatur intrare, quod neque 
arbores caeduntur ac putantur sine ferro, . . . 

22 Cf. Ovid, Fasti 3, 255-258: 

Dicite "Tu nobis lucem, Lucina, dedisti!" 

Dicite "Tu voto parturientis ades!" 
Si qua tamen gravida est, resoluto crine precetur, 

ut solvat partus molliter ilia suos. 

23 Cf. Fowler, R. F. 234. In describing the revival of this custom 
A. U. C. 390, Livy says (7, 3, 3-5): cum piaculorum magis conquisitio 
animos quam corpora morbi adficerent, repetitum ex seniorum memoria 
dicitur, pestilentiam quondam clavo a dictatore fixo sedatam. Ea re- 
ligione adductus senatus dictatorem clavi figendi causa dici iussit. This 
passage, taken with Livy, 8, 18 and 9, 28, 6, makes it quite certain that 



MAGIC AND THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE 67 

(2) Deification of Diseases. — Of similar nature and of 
equally early origin was the Roman custom of deifying the 
diseases themselves. Of these the numen 24 of the dread fevers 
which annually exacted such heavy toll from the Romans 
seems to have been especially revered. In ridicule of what 
appears to have been a very general belief in the divine attri- 
butes of various diseases, Pliny exclaims : 25 

numina . . . innumerabilia invenimus, inferis quoque in genera 
discriptis morbisque et multis etiam pestibus, dum esse placatas 
trepido metu cupimus. Ideoque etiam publice Febris fanum in 
Palatio dicatum est. . . . 26 

It is quite apparent from the words of Pliny that not only was 
the numen of fever especially revered by the Roman populace, 
but that there were many other diseases also of which the 
numina were held in like respect. Just what diseases were 

the purpose of driving the nail was corrective and curative. Epilepsy was 
cured in a similar way (cf. Pliny, N. H. 28, 63). For the superstitions 
connected with nails in general, including the archaeological evidence, 
cf. Jahn, Bos. Blick 106 ff.; Marquardt, Rom. Staatsv. 3, 106-107. 

24 For the word numen as used in Roman religion cf . Fowler, Rel. Exper. 
118-119. 25 N. H. 2, 15-16. 

26 There were at least three such temples in Rome in the first century 
of our era, according to Valerius Maximus, 2, 5, 6: Febrem autem ad 
minus nocendum templis colebant, quorum adhuc unum in Palatio, alterum 
in area Marianorum monumentorum, tertium in summa parte vici longi 
extat, in eaque remedia, quae corporibus aegrorum adnexa fuerant, defere- 
bantur. But only the first of these is mentioned elsewhere (cf. Cicero, 
De Leg. 2, 28: Nat. Deor. 3, 63 [Pliny, N. H. 2, 15-16, quoted above]; 
Aelian, V. H. 12, 11). Other passages which mention a temple to Febris 
without specifying the location (such as Augustinus, C. D. 3, 25: 4, 15; 
Seneca, Apoc. 6; Theodorus Priscianus Physicus, 3 [p. 250 Rose]) prob- 
ably refer to the Palatine temple. For epigraphical evidence of the cult 
Wissowa (Religion und Kultus, 246) quotes inscriptions dedicated to dea 
Tertiana (C. I. L. 7, 999) and Quartana (C. I. L. 12, 3129). It should be 
noted that Valerius Maximus, in the passage quoted above, is speaking 
of numerous temples to disease erected by antiquorum simplicitas, of 
which number the three that were existent in his own day comprised 
probably only a small proportion. Cf. also Roscher, Lex., s. v. Febris. 



68 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

thus deified we are unable to state with any degree of 
certainty. 27 

The statements that the temple of Febris stood upon the 
Palatine probably point to an early date as the time of its 
construction. 28 In this and similar temples, we may infer, 
the Roman populace prayed to be relieved from the attacks 
of the specific disease to whose temple they had come for aid. 
Such petitions, we may be sure, differed little from the purely 
magical evocationes morborum which are extant in considerable 
numbers. 29 The deification of disease and the offering of 

27 In the Cambridge Companion to Latin Studies (§ 1075) we find the 
following statement: "We hear also of a Dea Mefitis (for malaria), Dea 
Angerona (for angina, ayxov-q, or inflammation of the throat); and even, 
it is said, Dea Scabies (for the itch)." The evidence for this statement is, 
however, not convincing. The Dea Mefitis, so far as our evidence goes, 
seems to have been nothing more than a goddess of noxious gases (cf. 
Roscher, Lex., s. v. Mefitis; Heim, Incant. Mag. 476). That Angerona 
was a goddess pi quinsy is very doubtful. The truth seems to be that her 
cult had become so obscure even to Roman antiquarians that they were 
unable to agree either upon the etymology of the name or the function 
of the deity. The idea thaft she was the goddess of quinsy rests only 
upon Julius Modestus (apud Macrobium, 1, 10, 9) and Festus, 16 (ed. 
Lindsay). Many Roman antiquarians gave her an entirely different 
function (cf. the Thesaurus, s. v. Angerona, for an exhaustive group of 
citations concerning Angerona; Roscher, Lex., s. v. Angerona). A full 
statement of our ignorance regarding Angerona will be found in Fowler, 
R. F. 274-275. The evidence for Scabies as a deity seems even less sub- 
stantial. It consists of a single passage (Prudentius, Hamartigenia 220); 
unless, indeed, we understand a deified itch in Horace, Ars Poet. 417, a 
passage which Heim (Incant. Mag. 512) has elucidated. More specific 
is the evidence for Pallor, Pavor (Livy, 1, 27, 7; Lactantius, 1, 20, 11), 
Paventia (Tertullianus, Ad Nat. 2, 11; Augustinus, C. D. 4, 11), and 
Metus (Vergil, Aen. 6, 276; Claudius Claudianus, 1, 77; Apuleius, Met. 
10, 31; Seneca, Here. Fur. 693; Dieterich, Abraxas 92, n. 5; Roscher, 
Lex. 3, 1341-1343), if one may consider such emotions, when carried to 
the extreme, in the class with diseases. 

28 Cicero (De Leg. 2, 28) calls it ara vetusta. 

29 An excellent collection of such evocationes will be found in Heim, 
Incant. Mag. 476-479. 



MAGIC AND THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE 69 

prayer to such deities seems, in fact, but a step in advance of 
the belief that man could control disease by purely magical 
means. This conception of disease as a deity seems to supply 
a connecting link between the purely magical idea of direct 
control of nature, and the religious idea of gods, who will 
relieve trouble if they are placated by prayer and sacrifice. 
We are thus enabled to catch a glimpse of the early Roman as 
he tried by preternatural means to gain control over natural 
phenomena. Whether this effort took the form of a prayer 
or a spell must have depended, at least during the period of 
transition from magic to religion, upon the disposition of the 
individual who sought relief; and we may be allowed to sur- 
mise that during this period there was only the slightest dif- 
ference between prayer and spell, between priest and magician. 30 
As the priestly class grew stronger, and as the more intellectual 
classes, including the lawmakers, gradually deserted magic for 
religion, legal worship among the Romans succeeded in freeing 
itself from all active magic ; 31 but it is probable that the or- 
dinary Roman, even of the most enlightened era, as he stood 
in the temple of Febris and similar temples, uttered a prayer 
that closely resembled a magic spell. 32 

30 Marett (Thresh, of Rel. 29-72) has an interesting chapter entitled 
From Spell to Prayer. It is also instructive to note that as Judaism and 
Christianity spread through Italy there became manifest a disposition to 
mingle scriptural names and seasons in much the same manner with 
magic incantations. For this cf. MarceUus Empiricus, 8, 29: 23, 29: 25, 
13: 29, 23; Anecdotum Latinum (ed. Piechotta) 77; 199; 200; Helm- 
reich's edition of Marcellus Empiricus, Index Nominum Propriorum, s. w. 
Christus, Iacob, and Sabaoth. 

31 In spite of this desire to be free from outgrown magic belief, many 
fossilized elements from that source remained in Roman ritual. Cf. 
supra, 24-25. 

32 That neither the ancient Roman state religion nor Christianity has 
succeeded in freeing the Italian from his original belief in medical and 
other magic is abundantly proved by Leland in his Etruscan Roman Re- 
mains. 



70 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 



II. Medical Magic versus Scientific Medicine 

The history of Roman medicine resembles that of Roman 
religion. It began with the universal employment of magic 
cures, together with simple household remedies, and ended 
with the adoption bodily of Greek scientific medicine, at least 
among the upper classes. 33 

(1) Medical Magic Universal among the Early Romans. — 
We know that early Greek medicine was not free from magic ; 
for we read 34 that, when Odysseus had been wounded by a 
boar, the blood was stanched not by the usual means, but by 
an incantation. Among the early Romans, also, belief in 
medical magic was universal. 35 As time went on, however, 
the more intellectual classes gradually abandoned magic cures 
for scientific medicine, though the populace continued to a 
great extent to believe in the older method of controlling 
disease. 36 

33 For a brief discussion of Roman medicine, together with a bibliog- 
raphy of the subject, cf. Camb. Corny, to Lat. Stud. 715-727. 

34 Od. 19, 457-458, cited somewhat inaccurately by Pliny (N. H. 28, 21). 
Apuleius also (Apol. 40) cites this Homeric passage as evidence of magic 
in early Greek medicine: Veteres quidem medici etiam carmina remedia 
vulnerum norant, ut omnis vetustatis certissimus auctor Homerus docet, 
qui facit Ulixi de vulnere sanguinem profluentem sisti cantamine. Welcker 
(Kleine Schriften, 3, 64 ff.) attempts rather unsuccessfully to deny to 
the Homeric heroes the use of magic cures. His views are vigorously 
opposed by Heim (Incant. Mag. 466). Other references to magic cures 
among the Greeks are Pindar, Pyth. 3, 51; Aeschylus, Agam. 1020-1021: 
Eum. 648-650; Aelian, De Nat. An. 2, 18. 

35 Pliny (N. H. 28, 13), after discussing some ancient Roman customs 
in connection with incantamenta as remedia, adds: Prisci quidem nostri 
perpetuo talia credidere. The evidence which we have given in our treat- 
ment of Medical Magic and Religion (supra, 61-69) corroborates the state- 
ment of Pliny. 

36 Cf. Pliny, N. H. 28, 10: Ex homine remediorum primum maximae 
quaestionis et semper incertae est, polleantne aliquid verba et incanta- 
menta carminum. Quod si verum est, homini acceptum fieri oportere 



MAGIC AND THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE 71 

Many early cures indicate this popular mixture of magic 
with medicine. Epilepsy, for instance, was thought to be 
cured, or at least alleviated, by spitting upon the afflicted 
person. Plautus furnishes the earliest literary reference to 
such a custom. In the Captivi (550-555) we read : 

Ty. et illic isti qui sputatur morbus interdum venit. 

Proin tu ab istoc procul recedas. He. Ultro istum a me. 

Ar. Ain, verbero? 

Me rabiosum atque insectatum esse hastis meum memoras patrem, 

et eum morbum mi esse, ut qui med opus sit insputarier? 
He. Ne verere: multos iste morbus homines macerat, 

quibus insputari saluti fuit atque is profuit. 37 

A very primitive method of setting dislocated or broken 
limbs by the aid of magic is given us by Cato 38 in the following 
words : 

Luxum si quod est, hac cantione sanum fiet. Harundinem prende 
tibi viridem p. IIII aut V longam. Mediam diffinde et duo homines 
teneant ad coxendices. Incipe cantare: motas vaeta daries dardares 

conveniat, sed viritim sapientissimi cuiusque respuit fides, in universum 
vero omnibus horis credit vita nee sentit. 

37 I have followed Elmer (Captivi, 122 [Boston, 1900]) in my interpre- 
tation of line 553. It may be noted, however, that both the text and the 
interpretation of these lines are somewhat in doubt. Cf. Elmer's critical 
note, pp. 167-168, and Fay's article in The Classical Review, 8, 391. That 
the custom of spitting upon epileptics persisted at Rome until the first 
century of our era is attested by Pliny (N. H. 28, 35, quoted infra, 108), 
though this passage would seem to indicate that in Pliny's day the act 
was intended to protect the spitter rather than to cure the epileptic. 
We may infer from the silence of Greek authors (Theophrastus, Charact., 
De Superstit., fin., furnishes the only reference to the subject in Greek 
literature) that the practice was of native Italian growth. A good treat- 
ment of The Saliva Superstition in Classical Literature is given by Frank W. 
Nicolson in the Harvard Studies, 8 (1897), 23 ff., though the author's 
promise to give all the literary references is scarcely fulfilled. For the 
universal custom of spitting in magic, cf . Elworthy, Evil Eye, 412 ff . 

38 R. R. 160 (cf. Pliny, N. H. 28, 21). For the text and a thorough dis- 
cussion of this incantation see Heim, Incant. Mag. 533-535; 565-566; Keil, 



72 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

astataries dissunapiter, usque dum coeant, ferrum insuper iactato. 
Ubi coierint et altera alteram tetigerint, id manu prehende et dextra 
sinistra praecide. Ad luxum aut ad fracturam alliga : sanum net, et 
tamen cotidie cantato et luxato. 

In like manner Varro quotes from one of the Sasernae a 
magic remedy for pain in the feet : 39 

Cum homini pedes dolere coepissent, qui tui meminisset, ei mederi 
posse. Ego tui memini: medere meis pedibus. Terra pestem teneto. 
Salus hie maneto (sc. in meis pedibus). Hoc ter no vies cantare iubet, 
terram tangere, despuere, ieiunum cantare. 

We read also in this passage 40 that not only did the Sasernae 
include many such marvels in their agricultural works, 41 but 
that other early agricultural writers embodied similar items 
of medical magic in their farmers' guides. 

There can scarcely be any doubt that the magic cures men- 
tioned by Plautus, Cato, and Varro represent ancient Italian 
folk belief.* The same is true, also, of the large number of 
traditional popular cures of a magic character given by Pliny 
and other Latin writers. That these remedies are of ancient 
origin is further shown by the fact that in their preparation 
the use of iron is frequently forbidden. This circumstance 

Catonis De Agri Cultura, 106. The original text was probably as I have 
given it, though it has suffered much from subsequent interpolations. 
That this remedy was not of Greek origin we may infer both from our 
knowledge of Cato's hostility to Greek medicine (cf. Pliny, N. H. 29, 14) 
and from the general nature of the remedy itself. 

39 R. R. 1, 2, 27. 

40 R. R. 1, 2, 28 Multa, inquam, item alia miracula apud Sasernas 
invenies, quae omnia sunt diversa ab agricultura, et ideo repudianda. 
Quasi vero, inquam, non apud ceteros quoque scriptores talia reperiantur. 

41 For a probable instance of such magic in the works of the Sasernae 
cf. Varro, R. R. 1, 2, 26: Tarn hercle quam hoc, si quern glabrum facere 
velis, quod iubet ranam luridam conicere in aquam, usque quo ad tertiam 
partem decoxeris, eoque unguere corpus. (Here the hairless frog is prob- 
ably thought to have a sympathetic effect in producing a hairless head.) 



MAGIC AND THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE 73 

seems clearly to indicate that such magico-medical remedies 
were in common use before the iron age. 42 

(2) Early Magic Cures not Entirely Displaced by Greek 
Scientific Medicine. — Even after the introduction of Greek 
scientific medicine, the common people of Rome and Italy- 
continued to use magic cures. The popular opposition to the 
more advanced medical theories of the Greeks is probably- 
well reflected in Cato's advice to his son to avoid Greek physi- 
cians and to cling to the old Italian folk medicine. 43 This 
popular system of magic cures shows itself at times even in 
the writings of the foremost champions of the Greek school 
of medicine at Rome. If we may trust the prejudiced report 
of Pliny, 44 Asclepiades, the great Greek physician, resorted to 
magic in his practice of medicine; nor does Celsus disdain 
to quote, 45 for what it may be worth, a magic cure derived 
exclusively from auctores ex populo. 

42 For the prohibition of the use of iron in medical magic cf. Celsus, 
4, 8; Pliny, N. H. 15, 124: 23, 163: 24, 12; 68; 103; 172; 176: 30, 102; 
Marcellus Empiricus, 19, 52: 20, 106: 23, 35: 25, 13; 14: 26, 25; Pela- 
gonius, 7, 39; Serenus Sammonicus, 410-411; Pseudo-Pliny, 2, 21 (ed. 
Rose). Similar in intent are those passages where the magic remedy is 
to be prepared with implements of wood (Cato, P. R. 70: 71; Scribonius 
Largus, 152; Marcellus Empiricus, 28, 40; Serenus Sammonicus, 306) or 
of bronze (Columella, 6, 5, 4; Scribonius Largus, 16; Pliny, N. H. 28, 
198: 29, 109: 32, 41; Marcellus Empiricus, 29, 45). It is interesting to 
note that after the taboo on iron had somewhat subsided the strange new 
metal was actually considered efficacious in certain kinds of magic (cf. 
Pliny, N. H. 25, 167: 28, 42; 63: 29, 130: 30, 106: 34, 151; Marcellus 
Empiricus, 8, 49: 27, 87). Cf. also Kroll, Antiker Aberglaube, 6-8; Frazer, 
G. B. 2, 225 ff.; and for a like prohibition in Roman religion cf. Wissowa, 
Religion und Kultus, 34. 

43 Pliny, N. H. 29, 14 hoc puta vatem dixjsse: quandoque ista gens 
(sc. Graeca) suas litteras dabit, omnia conrumpet, turn etiam magis, si 
medicos suos hoc mittet. . . . Interdixi tibi de medicis. 

44 N. H. 26, 18-20. 

45 Med. 4, 7 Vulgo audio, si quis pullum hirundinis ederit, angina toto 
anno non periclitari; ... Id quum idoneos auctores ex populo habeat 
neque habere quidquam periculi possit, quamvis in monumentis medi- 



74 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

To what extent the more intellectual Romans of the Empire 
still believed in the old magic folk remedies will be shown by 
a brief consideration of some statements of Pliny the Elder. 
We have already shown 46 that Pliny, the typical representa- 
tive of Roman scientific inquiry, was not so free from belief 
in magic as he himself thought. In the special field of medical 
magic he was equally self -deceived. It is true that at times 
he speaks in ridicule of the Magorum commenta as unworthy 
of acceptance ; 47 but these commenta of the Magi are of exactly 
the same character as his own approved Italian remedies. As 
a matter of fact, cures that depend upon sympathetic magic for 
their efficacy are borrowed frankly and approvingly by Pliny 
from these same Magi ; 48 and, when scientific medicine proved 
powerless to cure a given disease, Pliny was willing enough to 
resort to the cures of the Magi. We read, for instance : 49 

In quartanis medicina clinice propemodum nihil pollet. Quam ob 
rem plura eorum (i.e. Magorum) remedia ponemus primumque ea 
quae adalfigari iubent. 

At other times Pliny appears to believe in popular Italian 
remedies of a magic nature, 50 even going so far as to assert 

corum non legerim, tamen inserendum huic operi meo credidi. Cf. also 
ibid. 4, 8. 

46 Supra, 56-59. 

47 N. H. 28, 47-49. The passage begins with the words, Magorum haec 
commenta sunt, but one is at a loss throughout to determine where the 
Magorum commenta end and popular Italian beliefs begin. 

48 Cf., e.g., N. H. 28, 232. 

49 N. H. 30, 98. 

50 N. H. 28, 35-46. It is true that throughout this passage Pliny indi- 
cates that he is quoting from popular beliefs (cf. the words quidam . . . 
adgravant [37], dicitur [41; 42], tradunt [43; 46]); but nowhere does he 
give convincing evidence of personal disbelief in what he is relating. Upon 
this point cf. Thorndike, Place of Mag. 44 ff. How widely Pliny had 
culled from books on medical magic is shown by the fact that he cites 
no fewer than twenty-five authors for items on magic cures. These are: 
Apollonius (28, 7); Archelaus (28, 34); Artemon (28, 7); Asclepiades 



MAGIC AND THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE 75 

that the magic act of spitting thrice as one utters a charm is 
a helpful custom in all medicine. 51 In the light of such evi- 
dence, we must conclude, I think, that Pliny depended upon 
scientific medicine wherever it had proved its efficacy in curing 
specific diseases, but recognized the possibility that an even 
greater power resided in magic cures, which he did not hesi- 
tate to recommend in cases where scientific medicine had 
failed. It is this more or less unconscious acknowledgment of 
the superior power of medical magic which proves that among 
the intellectual classes, no less than among the masses, there 
still survived an implicit belief in the old Italian folk remedies, 
which could never be entirely supplanted by Greek science. 52 

With the decline of classical Latin literature the gulf be- 
tween the cultivated classes and the superstitious masses of 
Rome gradually decreased in width, so that in the later Em- 
pire there appears a growing tendency among Latin authors 
to identify themselves in thought as well as in style with the 
daily life of Rome and Italy. Accordingly, we find in the later 
literature of Rome, just as in her earlier literature, a fuller 
and franker indication of a very general belief in medical 

(26, 18-20); Bithus Durrachinus (28, 82); Caecilius (29, 85); Cato (28, 
21); Chrysippus philosophus (30, 103); Dalion (28, 262); Democritus 
(24, 156-158: 26, 19-20: 28, 7; 113-118); Deotimus (28, 83); Granius 
(28, 42); Icatidas medicus (28, 83); Lais (28, 82); Marcion Zmyrnaeus 
(28,38); Meletos(28, 7); Metrodorus (37, 178) ; Ofilius (28, 38) ; Orpheus 
(28, 34); Osthanes (28,5-6; 256; 261); Pythagoras (24,156-158); Salpe 
(28, 38; 82; 262); Sotira obstetrix (28, 83); Theophrastus (28, 21); Varro 
(28, 21). There are also numerous references to the works of the Magi 
as a class. 

51 N. H. 28, 36 'We beg the pardon of the gods,' he says, 'for a too 
ambitious hope by spitting upon the breast,' et iam eadem ratione terna 
despuere precatione in omni medicina mos est atque ita effectus adiuvare, 
incipientes furunculos ter praesignare ieiuna saliva. 

62 How readily the Roman mind associated trickery and magic with 
Greek medicine may possibly be indicated by Juvenal's description of a 
versatile Greek (3, 77): Augur, schoenobates, medicus, magus, omnia 
novit I Graeculus esuriens. . . . 



76 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

magic. 63 The works of Q. Serenus Sammonicus, 54 Spartianus, 66 
Ammianus Marcellinus, 56 Pseudo-Pliny, 67 Pseudo-Apuleius, 68 
Sextus Placitus Papyriensis, 59 and Marcellus Empiricus 60 
give ample evidence of the continuous and universal nature 
of this belief. 

III. Preventive or Prophylactic Magic 
A. THE AMULET 

Up to the present point we have directed our attention more 
particularly to the curative phase of medical magic among the 
Romans. Prophylactic magic was, however, of equal importance 
in the life of ancient Italy. The chief means through which 
the aid of prophylactic magic was sought was the amulet. 

53 This statement applies equally well to all magic, as I have shown, 
supra, 25-26. I have tried there, also, to indicate the reasons underlying 
the phenomenon. 

54 The extant Liber Medicinalis of Serenus Sammonicus is full of super- 
stition and folk medicine (cf. lines 410-411; 439-443; 482-484; 609- 
612; 651-655; 907; 916-918; and especially the celebrated description 
of the amulet known as the abracadabra [935-946^]), notwithstanding the 
author's affected superiority to such beliefs (cf. lines 828-830; 925-931; 
1003-1005). The most available text is probably that of Baehrens, Poet. 
Lat. Min. 3, 103 ff. 

55 Hadrian 25, 1-4: Caracalla 5, 8. 

66 Cf. 16, 8, 2: 19, 12, 14. In the former of these passages we have the 
statement that fourth century medicine openly embraced magic cures: 
si quis super occentu soricis vel occursu mustelae vel similis signi gratia 
consuluisset quemquam peritum, aut anile incantamentum ad leniendum 
adhibuisset dolorem — quod medicinae quoque admittit auctoritas — 
reus . . . delatus. . . . 

57 The usual text is that of Rose (Leipzig, 1875). In the same MS with 
the Pseudo-Pliny (Cod. St. Galli, 752) are found very many other passages 
giving magic cures, for which cf . Rose in Hermes, 8, 48 ff. 

58 De Med. Herb. 19, 4: 24, 1: 91, 2 (ed. Ackermann, Niirnberg, 1788). 

59 17, 12; 19. 

60 This author is a veritable storehouse of late Roman folk medicine. 
Reference will be made to his work very frequently in the succeeding 
pages. 



MAGIC AND THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE 77 

It is to this interesting subject, therefore, that we shall now 
turn our discussion. 61 

(1) Definition of an Amulet. — The etymology of the word 
amuletum is doubtful. 62 This, however, is of small importance 
to our discussion, since most of the amulets mentioned by 
Latin authors are not called amuleta by name, though they 
are such in fact. It is essential, however, to the prosecution 
of our study, that we arrive at a satisfactory definition of 
what an amulet is. F. B. Jevons 63 defines it thus : 

Charms or amulets are material objects, in which no spirit resides 
either permanently or occasionally, but which are associated with 
something, be it blood, or babe, or corpse, or good spirit or bad, which 
is taboo. They therefore catch the taboo-infection and become charged 
with the properties of the thing taboo. They may serve, therefore, 
to do injury to others, by communicating the taboo-contagion; or, 
by their dangerous character and the fear they inspire, they may pro- 
tect the owner from both human and superhuman foes; or they may, 
from some association or other of ideas, be lucky. 64 

61 So far as I know, the only work that purports to give a complete 
history of amulets is A History of Amulets, by Martin Frederick Blumler 
(Halle, 1710; Eng. trans, by S. H., Gent., Edinburgh, 1887). This work 
is interesting, but not thoroughly reliable. The best treatment of the 
use of amulets among the Romans and the Greeks is a dissertation en- 
titled De Amuletorum apud Antiquos Usu Capita Duo, by Gerhardus 
Kropatscheck (Gryphiae, 1907). 

62 In Charisius, 1, 105, 9, we read: <f>v\anTiipiov quod Graeci appellant, 
amuletum Latine dicimus. Nam et Varro Divinarum XIII ita dixit sive 
a molliendo, id est infringendo vim mali, sive ab aemulatione. The word 
amuletum seems to be related to the verb amolior, and to denote something 
that wards off evil. (Cf. Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encyclop., s. v. amuletum; 
Thesaurus, s. v. amuletum.) The derivation of the word from the Arabic 
hamalet, though formerly quite generally accepted, is not probable. Cf. 
also Walde, Lot. Etym. Wort. 2 , s. v. amuletum. 

63 Hist, of Rel. 178. 

64 Marquardt {Rom. Staatsv. 3, 107) states that in the early days of 
Rome the wearer of amulets was thought to put himself under the pro- 
tection of ancient divinities such as Cunina, just as the Romans of the 
Empire impressed the image of Serapis upon amulets in order to obtain 



78 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

Restricting the foregoing definition to the limits of our present 
discussion, we may say that amulets are material objects in 
which no spirit resides, but which, through a specific associa- 
tion of ideas, become endowed with the power of taboo, 65 
and, by reason of this power, may protect their owners from 
disease. 

It will be noted that the above definition does not restrict 
the meaning of the word amulet to objects that can be hung 
about the neck or other parts of the body. Indeed, the Ro- 
mans themselves did not so restrict the meaning of the word. 
A bat, for instance, if carried around a house three times and 
then hung head downward over the window, was considered 
an amulet. 66 In a similar manner the gall bladder of a male 
black dog when used as a fumigant served as an amulet to 
protect the home from all magic. Or, if one preferred, the 
same result might be obtained by sprinkling the blood of such 
a dog upon the walls of the house, or by burying his membrum 
virile under the threshold. 67 In fact, Pliny, at least, seems to 
extend the meaning of the word amuletum to make it include 
any means of protection against any physical ill or misfor- 
tune. 68 Yet it should be added that the great majority of the 
medical amulets which are mentioned by Latin authors were, 
as a matter of fact, worn about the neck, upon the arm, upon 

the protection of that god (cf. Jahn, Bos. Blick, 45-47). It seems hardly- 
likely, however, that the spirit of the god was actually thought of as 
dwelling in the amulet; but rather, that the image of the god, or some 
other reminder of the divine power contained in the amulet, possessed 
a peculiar power due to an association of ideas. 

65 If this definition is to stand, we shall have to define taboo not as a 
system of abstinences based on the avoidance of certain calculated . . . 
evil consequences," but as "negative mana," that is, negative "super- 
natural wonder-working power." (Cf . Marett, Thresh, of Rel. 73-74.) 

66 Pliny, N. H. 29, 83. 67 Pliny, N. H. 30, 82. 

68 Cf., e.g., N. H. 28, 38 Inter amuleta est editae quemque urinae 
inspuere, similiter in calciamentum dextri pedis, priusquam induatur, 
item cum quis transeat locum, in quo aliquod periculum adierit. 



MAGIC AND THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE 79 

the finger, or upon the part of the body that was to be protected 
from disease. 69 

(2) Names Given to Amulets by Latin Authors. — Various 
names are applied to amulets by Latin authors. Naevius 70 
called them praebia, and this seems to have been the old Latin 
name for them. 71 We have seen 72 that Varro was familiar 
with the word amuletum, as was Pliny also. 73 By the time of 
Marcellus Empiricus the words phylacterium 74 and prae- 
ligamen 75 seem to have taken the place of amuletum. In by 
far the greater number of cases, however, the Latin authors 
are content to indicate in numerous ways 76 the use of amulets 
without giving any particular name to the object by means 
of which the desired end is accomplished. 

69 Cf. infra, 102-103. 

70 Varro (L. L. 7, 107), in speaking of the origin of certain words, re- 
marks: in Stigmatia (a comedy of Naevius) 'praebia' a praebendo, ut sit 
tutus, quod sint remedia in collo pueris. 

71 Cf. Festus, s. v. praebia (p. 276, ed. Lindsay): Praebia rursus Ver- 
rius vocari ait ea remedia, quae Gaia Caecilia, uxor Tarquini Prisci, in- 
venisse existimatur, et inmiscuisse zonae suae, . . . Ea vocari ait praebia, 
quod mala prohibeant. 

72 Cf . supra, 77, n. 62. From this passage it is apparent that the spelling 
in Varro's day varied between amoletum and amuletum. Varro also calls 
amulets scaevolae (L. L. 7, 97). 

73 Cf. N. H. 23, 20: 25, 115: 28, 38: 29, 66; 83: 30, 82; 138: 37, 50; 
118. The MSS of Pliny consistently give the spelling amuletum. 

74 Cf. Marcellus Empiricus, 8, 27: 14, 30; 68: 21, 8. 

75 Cf. Marcellus Empiricus, 8, 57; 58; 59: 29, 26: 31, 33. Other 
names for the amulet were: when considered from the standpoint of 
material, lamina litterata, breve, anulus; from the standpoint of the in- 
scription thereon, character; from the manner in which it was carried or 
worn, ligamen, obligamentum, ligatura, suballigatura, suspensio colli; from 
its function, servatorium, amolitum {amoletum), amolimentum, fascinus, 
praefiscinus (so W. Froehner, Sur une amulette basilidienne inedite du 
musee Napoleon III [Caen, 1867], p. 10. Cf. with this a similar list in 
Del Rio, Disquisit. Mag., Lib. I, Cap. IV, Quaestio IV, De Amuletis et 
Periaptis). 

76 This is most commonly done by the use of the verbs alligare, adalli- 
gare, suspender e, etc. 



80 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

(3) Antiquity and Continued Use of Amulets in Italy. — The 
invention of the amulet was attributed by Roman tradition 
to Gaia Caecilia, the wife of Tarquinius Priscus. 77 Such a 
tradition certainly indicates that the use of amulets in Italy 
goes back beyond the point where Roman history begins. The 
antiquity of the practice may also be judged from the ancient 
Roman custom of suspending the amulet called the bulla 78 
from the neck of a child upon his natal day 79 in order to pro- 
tect the tender wearer from all physical ills, especially the malign 
influence of the evil eye. 80 The bulla consisted of a locket, 
usually of gold, 81 within which was concealed the real amulet. 
This latter was sometimes a lizard, 82 or the representation of 
a heart, 83 but most frequently the figure of a membrum virile. 84 

Tradition tells us that the bulla was first bestowed by Tar- 
quinius Priscus upon his son, who, while still in his toga prae- 
texta, had slain a public enemy; and that it was thereafter 
a badge of noble youths. 85 On this account it was commonly 

77 Cf. supra* 79, n. 71. 

78 For the bulla cf. O. Jahn, Bos. Blick, 44; Marquardt, Rom. Staatsv. 3, 
106-108; Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encyclop., s. v. bulla; Thesaurus, s. v. 
bulla; Walde, Etymol. Wort. 2 , s. v. bulla. 

79 See Plautus, Pud. 1171. 

80 See Macrobius, Sat. 1, 619 inclusis intra earn (i.e. bullam) remediis 
quae crederent adversus invidiam valentissima. . . . 

81 Cf. Porphyrio on Horace, Sat. 1, 5, 65 generosis pueris, qui bullam 
auream egressi pueritiae annos apud Lares solent suspendere; Pseudo- 
Asconius, Verr. p. 199 (ed. Baiter) simul cum praetexta etiam bulla 
suspendi in collo infantibus ingenuis solet aurea, liber tinis scortea. . . . 

82 See Marcellus Empiricus, 8, 50 Lacerti viridis . . . oculos erues . . . 
et intra bullam vel lupinum aureum claudes colloque suspendes. . . . 

83 See Macrobius, Sat. 1, 6, 17 cordis figuram in bulla ante pectus 
adnecterent. 

84 See Pliny, N. H. 28, 39 Quamquam religione eum (sc. infantem) 
tutatur et fascinus . . .; Fowler, Rel. Exper. 60; and especially Varro, 
L. L. 7, 97 (ed. Goetz and Schoell) Potest vel ab eo quod pueris turpicula 
res in collo quaedam suspenditur, ne quid obsit. . . . 

85 See Pliny, N. H. 33, 10 Sed a Prisco Tarquinio omnium primo 
filium, cum in praetextae annis occidisset hostem, bulla aurea donatum 



MAGIC AND THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE 81 

believed by the Romans to have been introduced fromEtruria ; 86 
but it is more probably of purely Roman origin, 87 since the 
use of such amulets is of universal occurrence. 88 

The bulla was not, however, the only form of amulet used 
by the early Italians. Many of the taboos which were placed 
upon the person of the Flamen Dialis 89 may be referred to a 
very ancient belief in amulets. Among other protective meas- 
ures we may, for instance, mention the fact that the ring worn 
by him must be broken; this latter precaution was taken, no 
doubt, for fear that "the powerful spirit embodied in him 
might be trammelled and hampered in its goings-out and 
comings-in by such corporeal and spiritual fetters. . . ." 90 

Though the amulets we have just mentioned came into use 
at a remote period in the life of the Romans, they by no means 
stood alone. In fact, the Romans of the historical period not 
only retained the bulla and the taboos surrounding the Flamen 
Dialis, but added greatly to the number of amulets. We have 
already shown 91 that the dramatic writers of the third cen- 
tury b.c. made casual mention of the protective power of the 
bulla as though it were a matter of common experience to their 
audiences ; as, indeed, it must have been. It would seem that 
there was never a time when the Roman populace was free 

constat, unde mos bullae duravit, ut eorum, qui equo meruissent, filii 
insigne id haberent, ceteri lorum. . . . 

86 See Juvenal, 5, 164. 

87 A bit of evidence that points strongly to Roman origin is the fact 
that, when the Roman boy assumed the toga virilis, he dedicated his bulla 
not to any of the newer gods, but to the Lares, the most ancient of the 
native gods. Pseudo-Aero, on Horace, Sat. 1, 5, 65, says: solebant pueri, 
postquam pueritiam excedebant, eis Laribus bullas suas consecrare. Cf., 
also, Persius, 5, 31; Petronius, Sat. 60; Roscher, Lex. 2, 1877, 38-53. 

88 Fowler, Rel. Exper. 60. 

89 A. Gellius, N. A. 10, 15 (cf. supra, 54-55). 

90 Frazer, G. B. 2, 315 f. (cf. ib. 13-14). 

91 Supra, 79, n. 70; cf. Plautus, Epid. 639 f.: Rud. 1171; Jahn, Bos. 
Blick, 42, n. 48. 



82 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

from a belief in such means of prophylactic magic. This use 
of amulets seems, however, to have reached greater propor- 
tions during the first century of our era. 92 The common people 
of that period are said, for instance, to have used the wild 
grape as an amulet against disease, 93 and the cyclamen against 
all mala medicamenta. 9 * Amber, too, was popularly supposed 
to be a powerful amulet to ward off children's diseases and 
other ailments. 95 

Nor were the cultivated men of the first Christian century 
free from the taint of superstition. M. Servilius Nonianus, a 
historian of the reign of Claudius, used an amulet to protect 
himself from lippitudo; his example was followed by C. Licinius 
Mucianus, a man of sufficient dignity to have held the consul- 
ship three times. 96 Even the physicians of that century in- 
cluded the use of amulets in their practice of medicine ; 97 
while the Magi, if one may judge from the number of times 
they are slightingly mentioned by Pliny the Elder, must have 
influenced the popular medicine of this period very consider- 
ably. 98 Finally, Pliny himself openly recommends " the use 
of amulets in the treatment of quartan fevers. 

92 At least it then, for the first time, becomes the subject of literary 
discussions such as those contained in Pliny's Natural History. 

93 Pliny, N. H. 23, 20 Utuntur ea (i.e. oenanthe) pro amuleto et ad 
expuitionem sanguinis quoque adhibent. . . . 

94 Pliny, N. H. 25, 115 A nostris tuber terrae vocatur, in omnibus 
serenda domibus, si verum est, ubi sata sit, nihil nocere mala medica- 
menta; amuletum vocant. 

95 Pliny, N. H. 37, 50-51 Infantibus adalligari amuleti ratione prodest. 
Callistratus prodesse etiam cuicumque aetati contra lymphationes tradit 
et urinae difficultatibus potum adalligatumque. For a detailed account 
of amulets in preventive medicine see infra, 84-105. 

96 Pliny, N. H. 28, 29 (infra, 86). 

97 Such were Grannius (Pliny, N. H. 28, 42), Caecilius (Pliny, N. H. 
29, 85, quoted infra, 90, and n. 121), Callistratus (Pliny, N. H. 37, 51), 
and Scribonius Largus (Comp. 171). Cf. also supra, 73. 

98 See N. H. 28, 228-229: 29, 81-83: 30, 64. 

99 Cf. supra, 74. 



MAGIC AND THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE 83 

This recommendation the populace was evidently disposed 
to follow, for a century and a half later we find the people 
resorting so universally to the use of amulets for the prevention 
of quartan fever that the Emperor Caracalla threatened with 
death all who should be detected wearing amulets against this 
scourge. 100 Such violent measures, however, had, so far as we 
may judge, very slight effect ; for in the succeeding generation 
we find Q. Serenus Sammonicus, himself a physician, recom- 
mending amulets as a legitimate adjunct in both preventive and 
curative medicine. 101 

The adoption of Christianity as the state religion, though it 
had very little immediate effect upon popular beliefs, resulted 
in making those who believed in medical amulets the victims 
of the imperial Christian zeal. Accordingly, we find in the 
fourth century of our era renewed punishments inflicted upon 
those who resorted to prophylactic amulets. 102 The common 
people, however, clung to their amulets in spite of the imperial 
disapproval, and, if one may judge from the astonishingly 
plentiful evidence presented in the interesting manual of 
popular medicine compiled by Marcellus of Bordeaux (about 
410 a.d.), became even more devoted to magical means in 
preventive medicine. 

100 See Spartianus, Carac. 5, 7 (quoted supra, 53, n. 297). 

101 See, e.g., lines 927-931 in which the author gives a remedy for daily 
recurrent fever: 

Nee non ossa iuvant saeptis inventa domorum : 
convenit haec tereti pendentia subdere collo. 
Multaque praeterea verborum monstra silebo; 
nam febrem vario depelli carmine posse 
vana superstitio credit tremulaeque parentes. 

The air of superiority assumed by Sammonicus in the last three lines of 
this passage is not at all in accord with his actual belief in such magic. 

102 See Ammianus Marcellinus, 19, 12, 14 nam si qui remedia quar- 
tanae vel doloris alterius collo gestaret . . . pronuntiatus reus capitis 
interibat. For the general attitude of Christianity to magic, see Maury, 
Mag. et Vastrol., Chapter 6. 



84 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

(4) Amulets Used in Preventive Medicine. — Amulets were, 
in fact, used by the Romans at one time or another to prevent 
almost all kinds of disease. It is my purpose to present in the 
succeeding pages of this chapter the passages in Latin literature 
that have to do with the prevention of disease either (a) by 
means of amulets, or (b) by other magic means ; to make some 
general classification of medical amulets ; and to discover the 
fundamental principle upon which Roman prophylactic magic 
rests. 

Amulets were used to prevent, 

1. Headache. — Marcellus Empiricus (1, 41) furnishes our 
only amulet for the prevention of headache : 103 

Limaci calculum, quem in capite habet, tolle; . . . quern lapidem 
quamdiu tecum habueris, numquam uilum dolorem capitis nee senties 
nee patieris. 

2. Diseases of the Eye. — Pains in the eyes might be avoided 
by means ©f various amulets. Thus Marcellus Empiricus 
(8, 27) tells us : 

Dolorem oculorum ut anno integro non patiaris . . . de tribus 
cerasiis lapillos pertundes et Gaditano lino inserto pro phylacterio 
uteris, voto prius facto contra solem orientem quod eo anno cerasia 
non sis manducaturus. 104 

Stones found in the swallow's stomach were said to have the 
same beneficent effect, but for a longer period, if we may 
credit the same authority (8, 45) : 

Hirundinis ventriculo scisso albi ac nigri lapisculi inveniuntur, qui 
si lupino aureo includantur et collo suspendantur, omnem dolorem 
oculorum perpetuo avertent. 

103 Many other amulets to be found in Marcellus Empiricus are for the 
cure of headache rather than for its prevention. Such, for instance, 
are those mentioned in 1, 85: 2, 7. 

104 See infra, 121-122. 



MAGIC AND THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE 85 

The green lizard, also, could be worn as a powerful means of 
preventing pains in the eyes, according to Marcellus (8, 50) : 

Lacerti viridis quern ceperis die Iovis luna vetere mense Septembri 
aut etiam quocumque alio oculos erues acu cuprea 105 et intra bullam 
vel lupinum aureum claudes colloque suspendes: quod remedium 
quamdiu tecum habueris, oculos non dolebis. 

Another type of amulet, used to protect the wearer from all 
eye troubles, consisted of an inscribed piece of virgin parch- 
ment. To this Marcellus Empiricus testifies (8, 58) :. 

Hoc etiam remedium indubitate impetus oculorum, si praevenias, 
prohibebit, scriptum in charta virgine : 

povfips pvoTTtipas 
^eAios os ttolvt' i<J3opq, kcu Trdvr iiraKovei; 

quod ad collum dolentis 106 licio suspendi debet. 

Lippitudo was a very common eye trouble among the Ro- 
mans. Hence we find a number of amulets recommended for 
preventing this troublesome affliction. The green lizard is 
again prominent. See Marcellus Empiricus (8, 49) : 

Lacertam viridem excaecatam acu cuprea 107 in vas vitreum mittes 
cum anulis aureis, argenteis, ferreis, et electrinis, si fuerint, aut etiam 
cupreis, deinde vas gypsabis aut claudes diligenter atque signabis 
et post quintum vel septimum diem aperies, lacertam sanis luminibus 
invenies, quam vivam dimittes, anulis contra lippitudinem ita uteris, 
ut non solum digito gestentur, sed etiam oculis crebrius adplicentur, 

105 Such references to copper, gold, tin, reed, etc., are probably to be 
interpreted as a prohibition of iron (cf. supra, 73 and n. 42). There seems 
to be evidence, however, that gold in itself possessed some magic power 
(see Fowler, Rel. Exper. 60). 

106 It is, of course, inconsistent for the author to use the words si prae- 
venias, prohibebit, and dolentis of the same act; but one should not expect 
to be able to draw too strict a line of distinction between amulets to pro- 
tect against future disease, and amulets to cure present ailments. 

107 Cf. supra, n. 105. 



86 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

ita ut per foramen anuli visus transmittatur .... observandum 
etiam ut luna vetere ... die Iovis Septembri mense capiatur lacerta 
atque ita remedium fiat, sed ab homine maxime puro atque casto. 108 

The head of the dragon and the tongue of the fox possessed 
similar power. Of the former Pliny says (N. H. 29, 128) : 
negatur annis multis continuis lippiturus . . . qui draconis 
caput habeat. Of the latter the same author tells us (N. H. 28, 
172) : vulpinam linguam habentes in armilla lippituros negant. 
The fly, also, could be used as an amulet to avert lippitudo. 109 
Of the woodland sorrel we are told (Marcellus Empiricus, 
8, 41) : quamdiu earn tecum habueris, non lippies. 

That amulets of inscribed parchment were useful in this 
field of preventive magic we see from Pliny (N. H. 28, 29) : 

M. Servilius Nonianus princeps civitatis non pridem in metu lippi- 
tudinis, priusquam ipse earn nominaret aliusve ei praediceret, duabus 
litteris Graecis PA chartam inscriptam circumligatam lino subnectebat 
collo, Mucianus ter consul eadem observatione viventem muscam 
in linteolo albo, his remediis carere ipsos lippitudine praedicantes. 

The use of a golden lamella for the same purpose is mentioned 
by Marcellus Empiricus (8, 59) : 

In lamella aurea acu cuprea scribes opvo) ovpoiStf et dabis vel suspen- 
des ex licio collo gestandum praeligamen ei qui lippiet, quod potenter 
et diu valebit, si observata castitate die lunae illud facias et ponas. 

The strangest of all the means of protection against lippitudo 
is, perhaps, the one given by Pliny (N. H. 28, 42) : in manu 

108 I have given this long passage practically entire in order to exhibit 
a fair sample of the elaborate precaution often enjoined regarding details 
in the preparation of an amulet. It is not definitely stated in this passage 
whether the amulet is to be used to avert or to cure lippitudo. The former 
interpretation seems, however, more probable, since the amulet men- 
tioned in the passage immediately following (8, 50, quoted supra, 85) is 
said to avert pains in the eye. 

109 pii ny> N. H. 28, 29, quoted infra. 



MAGIC AND THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE 87 

dextera II medii (sc. digiti) lino leviter colligati destillationes 
atque lippitudines arcent. 110 

3. Toothache. — I have found only one case of the preven- 
tion of toothache by means of an amulet. It is in Pliny (N. H. 
27, 89) : 

In hoc (i.e. quadam parte gallidragae) crescente aestate vermiculos 
nasci tradit, quos pyxide conditos adalligari cum pane bracchio ab 
ea parte, qua dens doleat, mireque ilico dolorem tolli. Valere non 
diutius anno et ita, si terrain non adtigerint. 111 

4. Diseases of the Throat. — Of throat afflictions two were 
thought preventable by means of amulets. Goitre, we are 
told (Marcellus Empiricus, 15, 67), may be prevented in the 
following manner : Caput viperae linteolo conligatum colloque 
suspensum tolles . . . prohibet innasci. Equally efficacious 
was the following method of preventing a cough (Pseudo- 
Pliny, 1, 17) : 112 scribes in charta virgine hoc nomen Ial- 
dabrae 113 et de spongia nova tolli s lapillum, alligabis tibi et 
suspendes ad collum. 

5. Diseases of the Stomach and Bowels. — The amulet most 
effective in protecting one from abdominal pains in general 
seems to have been the ankle bone of a hare. 114 We read in 

110 The tying together of the fingers was doubtless thought to bind up 
the excretions characteristic of these diseases. 

111 We shall find in the course of our study numerous cases where it is 
enjoined that the object possessing the magic power must not touch the 
earth. For an explanation of this prohibition see infra, 120, n. 292. 

112 P. 206, 1. 1 of Codex St. Galli 751. Cf. Heim, Incant. Mag. 557. 

113 For meaningless words, 'E<f>&ria ypa.ntia.Ta, on amulets cf . infra, 100. 

114 The facts regarding European superstitions concerning the hare 
will be found in Hazlitt, Faiths and Folklore, 1, 305. The custom of carry- 
ing in one's pocket or about one's person a 'rabbit foot' is so common in 
the United States, or at least in the Southern States, that I think no proof 
of the custom is necessary. Such amulets are especially prized by negroes 
and small boys as a means of protection against various physical ills and 
to secure good luck. The foot of the hare was much used by the Romans 
as an amulet in the cure of physical ailments (cf. Pliny, N. H. 28, 220; 
Marcellus Empiricus, 28, 21: 29, 35: 36, 26-28). 



88 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

Pliny (N. H. 28, 199) : Ventris quidem dolore temptari negant 
talum leporis habentes. This amulet must have been very- 
popular, for we find it mentioned twice by Marcellus Empiricus. 
In 28, 48 he says : Si quis talum leporis secum habuerit, in- 
munis a dolore ventris et periculo huiusmodi perpetuo per- 
manebit. Again, we find (27, 84) : sed qui talum leporis 
secum habuerit, huiusmodi casum, id est subitum dolorem 
ventris, numquam incurret. Of a different kind is the amulet 
mentioned by Marcellus (34, 34) : Observabis, ut quodcumque 
de corpore fuerit eiectum licio alligatum candelabro suspendas 
aut uncta oleo lanula involutum in ventrali gestes; dolorem 
non patieris eius loci, de quo fuerit aliquid eductum. 

Amulets intended specifically for colic are also found. Here 
we may cite Pliny (N. H. 30, 63) : huius (sc. ossifragi intes- 
tini) partem extremam adalligatam prodesse contra colum 
constat ; Marcellus Empiricus (29, 13) : Coli dolorem avertes, 
si de lacertarum caudis sumitatem tuleris et auro incluseris 
et ligaveris circa umbilicum aut si de reste ventrem circum- 
cinxeris, de qua quis laqueo vitam finierit. Cf. id. 28, 45. 

6. Urinary Diseases. — Here we may cite Pseudo-Pliny 
(2, 38) : m Item (ad) vesicae dolorem scribes in vesica procina, 
mascula de masculo, femina de femina et ad umbilicum sus- 
pendes, et eius nomen scribes cui f acis : - abarabarbaricabor- 
boncabradubrabarasaba.' 116 

7. Diseases of the Groin. — To protect the groin from swelling 
ulcers Pliny recommends the following amulet (N. H. 23, 163) : 
Inguen ne intumescat ex ulcere, satis est surculum tantum myrti 
habere secum nee ferro nee terra contactum. 117 That this 

115 P. 239, Cod. St. Galli 751. Cf. Heim, Incant. Mag. 559. 

116 It seems better to refer such passages as Pliny, N. H. 37, 51; Pseudo- 
Pliny, 2, 18 (p. 62, ed. Rose): 2, 45 (p. 247, 1. 13 Cod. St. Galli 751, quoted 
by Heim, 1. c.); and Marcellus Empiricus, 26, 129-130 to curative rather 
than to preventive medicine. 

117 Repeated in Pseudo-Pliny, 2, 21 (p. 64, ed. Rose). The injunction 
that the amulet be not allowed to touch the earth is quite common. Cf . 
supra, 87, n. Ill and infra, 120, n. 292. 



MAGIC AND THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE 89 

amulet was popular seems to be shown by the fact that Pliny 
himself repeats it with slight change (N. H. 26, 91) : Alii 
adiciunt et puleium, quod ieiunus quis legerit : si post se alliget, 
inguinis dolores prohibet. . . . These passages are in turn 
repeated in substance by Marcellus Empiricus (32, 18) : Ne 
inguen ex ulcere aliquo aut vulnere intumescat, surculum 
anethi in cingulo aut in fascia habeto ligatum; and again 
(32, 20) : Surculum quoque ex myrto terra non tactum si 
quis gerat, ab inguinibus tutus erit. 

Of a very different type is the amulet mentioned by Pliny 
(N. H. 28, 48) : Inguinibus medentur aliqui liceum telae 
detractum alligantes novenis septenisve nodis, ad singulos 
nominantes viduam aliquam atque ita inguini adalligantes. 118 
This passage of Pliny is also repeated with some changes by 
Marcellus (32, 19) : 

In sparto vel quocumque vinculo, quo holus aut obsonium fuerit 
innexum, septem nodos facies et per singulos nectens nominabis 
singulas anus viduas et singulas feras et in crure vel bracchio, cuius 
pars vulnerata fuerit, alligabis. Quae si prius facias, antequam nas- 
cantur inguina, omnem inguinum vel glandularum molestiam pro- 
hibebis. . . , 119 

8. Female Troubles. — Many of the physical ills peculiar 
to women were thought to be preventable by medical amulets. 
Among these were 

(a) Female Complaints in General. — To this class belongs 
an amulet described by Pliny (N. H. 28, 41) : 

Pueri qui primus ceciderit dens, ut terram non attingat, inclusus 
in armillam et adsidue in bracchio habitus muliebrium locorum dolores 
prohibet. 

118 Repeated with some changes by Pseudo-Pliny, 2, 21 (p. 64, ed. 
Rose) . 

119 Cf. also Marcellus Empiricus, 32, 21. The same amulet is suggested 
by Theodorus Priscianus, 4, 313 for the cure of headache. 



90 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

(b) Menstrual Irregularities. — For this compare Marcellus 
Empiricus (10, 35) : 

Item carmen hoc utile profluvio muliebri: Stupidus in.monte 
ibat, stupidus stupuit; adiuro te, matrix, ne hoc iracunda suscipias; lt0 
pari ratione scrip turn ligabis. 

(c) Conception. — This, too, was often considered a physical 
ill, for the prevention of which medical amulets could be used. 
Pliny tells us (N. H. 29, 85) : 

vermiculi duo (sc. in capite phalangi reperti) adalligati mulieribus 
pelle cervina ante solis ortum praestare ne concipiant, ut Caecilius m 
in commentariis reliquit. 

(d) Miscarriage. — Here, again, Pliny is our authority. 
In N. H. 28, 98 we read : 

Mulieri Candida a pectore hyaenae caro et pili septeni et genitale 
cervi, si inligentur dorcadis pelle e collo suspensa, continere partus 
promittuntur. . . . 

Compare with this N. H. 28, 246-247 : 

Tradunt cervas, cum senserint se gravidas, lapillum devorare 
quern in excrementis repertum aut in vulva . . . custodire partus 
adalligatum. Inveniuntur et ossicula in corde et in vulva perquam 
utilia gravidis parturientibusque. 

To these passages may be added Pliny, N. H. 30, 125: 36, 151 ; 
Solinus, 37, 15. 

120 Jacob Grimm (Kleinere Schriften, 2, 129, § 22) gives the following 
metrical arrangement of this incantamentum: 

Stupidus in monte ibat, 
stupidus stupuit, 
adiuro te, matrix, 
ne hoc iracunda suscipias. 

For a further discussion of this amulet cf. Grimm, op. cit. 146 ff.; Heim, 
Incant. Mag. 498. 

121 Cf. supra, 82, n. 97. This Caecilius is called Caecilius medicus in 
the index auctorum to book twenty-nine of the N. H. 



MAGIC AND THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE 91 

(e) Painful Delivery. — Here we may cite Pliny (N. H. 28, 
114): eundem (i.e. chamaeleonem) salutarem esse parturi- 
entibus, si sit domi, si vero inferatur, perniciosissimum. 

9. Galling of the Skin. — The pertinent passages here are 
Pliny (N. H. 26, 91) : Intertrigines negat fieri Cato absinthium 
Ponticum secum habentibus ; (24, 47) : Virgam populi in 
manu tenentibus intertrigo non metuitur; and (24, 63): 
Virgam (sc. viticis) qui in manu habeant aut in cinctu, 
negantur intertriginem sentire. 

10. Tumors. — The most general means of protection 
against all tumors (strumae) is that mentioned by Marcellus 
Empiricus (15, 52) : 

Contra omnes strumas et feminis et maribus utilissimum est, si 
cor lacertae viridis lupino argenteo clausum in collo suspensum semper 
habeant. 

Another interesting amulet for the prevention of the same 
disease is given by Pliny (N. H. 23, 130) : 

Corticem eius (i.e. caprifici) intumescentem puer impubis si de- 
fracto ramo detrahat dentibus, medullam ipsam adalligatam ante 
solis ortum prohibere strumas. 

Finally, we find one and the same substance used first as a cure 
for strumae, and then as an amulet to prevent the return of 
the affliction. The whole passage, found in Pliny (N. H. 26, 24), 
throws an unusually clear light upon the folk lore of the times : 

Sideritis latifolia clavo sinistra manu circumfossa adalligatur, 
custodienda sanatis ne rursus sata taedium herbariorum scelere . . . 
rebellet, quod et in iis, quos Artemisia sanaverit, praedici reperio, 
tern in iis, quos plantago. 

Such a substance can, of course, be classed as an amulet only 
in the broad sense that it protects its owner from physical ills. 122 

122 That the Romans extended the meaning of the word amulet so as 
to include such means of protection I have shown, supra, 78. The nega- 
tive principle which underlies the practice here mentioned is apparent also 



92 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

11. Infants 7 Diseases. — (a) In General. — Here, in what 
seems the natural field of household remedies, we expect a 
rich store of preventive medical magic, nor are we disappointed. 
We find, for instance, coral, amber, and malachite used as 
amulets to ward off children's ills in general. Compare Pliny 
(N. H. 32, 24) : Surculi (sc. coralii) 123 infantiae adalligati 
tutelam habere creduntur; (37, 50): Infantibus adalligari 
(sc. sucinum) amuleti ratione prodest; (37, 114; quoted by 
Solinus, 33, 20) : laudata (sc. molochitis) . . . infantium 
custodia quodamque innato contra pericula medicamine. The 
scarab 124 was used in much the same way, as we see from 
Pliny (N. H. 11, 97) : infantium etiam remediis ex cervice (sc. 
scarabaei) suspenduntur. . . . 

(b) Troubles of Teething. — The troubles of teething were 
prevented by the use of the wolf's tooth as an amulet. This 
valuable and suggestive charm was also credited, it may be 
noted, with power to drive from the mind of a child all fears 
of the darkriess. See Pliny (N. H. 28, 257) : Dens lupi adalliga- 
tus infantium pavores prohibet dentiendique morbos, quod et 
pellis lupina praestat. 126 A similar sympathetic amulet is 
provided by the milk teeth of colts, according to Serenus Sam- 
monicus (1031-1032) : 

Collo igitur molli dentes nectentur equini, 
qui primi fuerint pullo crescente caduci. 

12. Night Fears. — The excessive fear which some persons 
experience in the dark is little short of a disease. That the 

in the various customs of concealing nail parings, hair cuttings, and similar 
objects. Cf . Frazer, G. B. 2, 267 ff. 

123 p or other instances of coral as an amulet cf. Pliny, N. H. 37, 145; 
Gratius, Cyn. 399-407; Serenus Sammonicus, 942. 

124 For beetles as amulets in general cf . Pliny, N. H. 30, 100. 

125 One might think that the wolf tooth was intended merely as a hard 
substance upon which to cut the teeth, were it not for other items in the 
passage which are not susceptible of such an explanation. 



MAGIC AND THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE 93 

Romans thought it possible to prevent such fears by means 
of amulets is clear from Pliny (N. H. 28, 98) : Contra nocturnos 
pavores umbrarumque terrorem unus ex magnis dentibus (sc. 
hyaenae) lino alligatus succurrere narratur. Other parts also 
of the hyena were credited with this same power; compare 
Pliny (N. H. 28, 115) : Pedem (sc. hyaenae) e prioribus dex- 
trum pelle hyaenae adalligatum sinistro bracchio contra la- 
trocinia terroresque nocturnos poll ere, item dextram mamillam 
contra formidines pavoresque. . . . The tooth of even so 
companionable an animal as the dolphin was believed to possess 
a similar power to drive away fears, according to Pliny (N. H. 
32, 137) : Adalligatus idem (i.e. dens delphini) pavores re- 
pentinos tollit. Idem effectus et caniculae dentis. 

13. Epilepsy. — I have found in Latin literature only one 
instance of the use of amulets to prevent epilepsy, namely, 
Pliny (N. H. 30, 91) : 

Magis placet draconis cauda in pelle dorcadis adalligata cervinis 
nervis vel lapilli e ventre hirundinum pullorum sinistro lacerto adnexi. 
. . . Quin et e nido earum lapillus . . . dicitur . . . adalligatus in 
perpetuum tueri (sc. a morbo comitiali). 

14. Fevers. — Amulets for the prevention of fevers, par- 
ticularly tertian and quartan fevers, seem to have been quite 
commonly employed. 126 Among these we may mention amulets 
used to prevent 

(a) Continuous Fevers. — See Pliny (N. H. 28, 107) : canini 
dentes febris statas arcent ture repleti . . . ita ne diebus V ab 
aegro cernatur qui adalligaverit. 

(b) Nightly or Daily Recurrent Fevers. — Mentioned by 
Pliny (N. H. 29, 64) : adalligatos (sc. cimices) laevo bracchio 
binos lana subrepta 127 pastoribus resistere nocturnis febribus 
prodiderunt, diurnis in russeo panno. We have cited above 128 

126 Cf. Pliny, N. H. 30, 98 (quoted supra, 74). 

127 Cf. infra, 104-105. 128 Cf. supra, 83, n. 101. 



94 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

the amulet mentioned by Serenus Sammonicus as a means of 
averting daily recurrent fever. 

(c) Tertian Fevers. — To what extent the Roman populace 
employed amulets to protect themselves from tertian fever 
is shown by the statement of Spartianus 129 that during the 
third century of our era many persons were severely punished 
for using such prophylactic magic. That such practices were 
very prevalent at that time may also be gathered from Serenus 
Sammonicus (916-918) : 

Ut possis igitur talem prohibere furorem (i.e. febrem tertianam), 
involves cera sine caudis grana cumini 
Puniceaeque indes pelli colloque ligabis. 

That the Romans of the first century of our era also possessed 
amulets for warding off tertian fever we know from Pliny 
(N. H. 24, 170) : 

Herba quaecumque e rivis aut fluminibus ante solis ortum collecta 
ita ut nemo golligentem videat, adalligata laevo bracchio ita ut aeger 
quid sit illud ignoret, tertianas arcere traditur. 130 

(d) Quartan Fevers. — We have shown above m that Roman 
medicine was totally unable to cope with this type of malarial 
fever, and that even Pliny was willing to recommend a trial 
of amulets in the lack of a better method of treatment. In 
addition to the passage already cited we may quote from 
Pliny the following passages : N. H. 28, 111 Cor (sc. crocodili) 
adnexum in lana ovis nigrae, cui nullus alius colos incursaverit, 
et primo partu genitae quartanas abigere dicitur; N. H. 28, 
114 cor (sc. hyaenae) ad versus quartanas inligatam lana 
nigra primae tonsurae (sc. pollere Democritus narrat); and 
N. H. 28, 228 Quartanis Magi excrementa felis cum digito 
bubonis adalligari iubent et, ne recidant, non removeri septeno 
circumitu. 

129 Cf. supra, 53, n. 297. 130 Cf. also Pliny, N. H. 30, 104. 

131 Pliny, N. H. 30, 98 (supra, 74). 



MAGIC AND THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE 95 

15. Bites of Poisonous Animals. — To protect themselves 
from the bites of serpents and other poisonous animals the 
Romans made free use of amulets. Most of the objects thus 
used, however, emit such an odor that one might perhaps 
maintain that they had a real efficacy arising from natural 
causes, were it not for certain accompanying details that are 
clearly magical in character. When Scribonius Largus, for 
instance, tells us 132 that either hiera botane or trifolium acutum, 
if bound to the person, will protect the wearer from the bite 
of serpents, and in the same connection states that both plants 
odorem gravem emittunt, we are tempted immediately to con- 
clude that the serpents were supposed to flee on account of the 
disagreeable odor of the plant. But Scribonius adds : 

Sed utrasque superius dictas herbas cum inveneris, pridie notare 
oportet et circumscribere sinistra manu fruges aliquas ponentem atque 
postero die ante solis ortum sinistra manu vellere (et) ita inligatas 
habere. 

Clearly a plant plucked with so much ceremony was thought 
to possess protecting qualities other than its pungent odor. 

A similar doubt attaches to the use of shrew mice as amulets. 
The bite of this animal was considered dangerous to cattle. 
Accordingly, we find the following measure of protection sug- 
gested by Columella (6, 17, 6) : Solet etiam ipsum animal vivum 
creta figulari circumdari; quae cum siccata est, collo bourn 
suspenditur. Ea res innoxium pecus a morsu muris aranei 
praebet. One might maintain, of course, that the dead shrew 
mouse concealed within the ball of potter's earth by emitting 
a characteristic odor acted as a warning to the other shrew 
mice ; but it seems much more likely that behind this custom 
lay some magic principle based upon antipathia. 

The same argument might be advanced to show that those 
who carried parsnips about their persons in order to avoid 

132 Comp. 163. Cf. Pliny, N. H. 20, 133-134. 



96 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

snake-bite did so, not because they depended upon the power of 
the vegetable as an amulet, but because serpents were supposed 
especially to dislike and to shun the odor of the parsnip. Yet 
such an explanation would scarcely suffice in the case of the 
man who, instead of carrying the parsnip in his clothes, ate 
it ; 133 for he was equally protected. Upon the whole I think 
that such measures of protection are to be regarded as 
amulets. 

(5) Materials of Amulets. — The foregoing passages make 
it clear that the Romans practiced prophylactic magic by 
means of amulets made of mineral, vegetable, and animal 
materials. By arranging these amulets in groups according 
to the material of which each is composed we shall be able to 
determine not only the relative importance of the three princi- 
pal sources of amulets, but also the general nature of medical 
amulets themselves. 

(a) Minerals. — We are told that rings of gold, silver, copper, 
or iron are equally efficacious as amulets in preventing lippi- 
tudo, m a disease from which one might also be protected by 
wearing about one's neck an inscribed golden lamella. 135 Precious 
stones and similar materials were used, especially for warding 
off the various diseases of infants. We find malachite, 136 
coral, 137 and amber 138 thus employed. The last named sub- 
stance was also used to prevent lippitudo. 139 There were cer- 
tain small stones, also, which seem to have derived their power 
as amulets, in part at least, from the sources from which they 

133 Gargilius Martialis, Med. 33 Negant feriri a serpentibus qui pasti- 
nacam secum ferant vel ante gustarint. Cf. Pliny, N. H. 20, 31; 69; 133; 
223; 232: 22, 52; 60: 25, 163; Ps.-Apuleius, De Med. Herb. 4, 7. 

134 Marcellus Empiricus, 8, 49 (supra, 85). 

135 Marcellus Empiricus, 8, 59 (supra, 86). 

136 Pliny, N. H. 37, 114 (supra, 92). 

137 Pliny, N. H. 32, 24 (supra, 92). 

138 Pliny, N. H. 37, 50 (supra, 92). 

139 Marcellus Empiricus, 8, 49 (supra, 85). 



MAGIC AND THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE 97 

were obtained. We read, 140 for instance, that a stone found in 
the head of a snail could free the person who wore it from all 
fear of headache. A similar stone, found in the stomach of a 
swallow, if worn as an amulet, was thought to protect the 
wearer from all pains in the eyes, 141 and from epilepsy. 142 Still 
another stone, found in the womb of the hind, was commonly 
thought to prevent miscarriage. 143 Finally, it was believed 
among the populace that one might avert a cough by 
wearing about one's person a stone taken from a new 
sponge. 144 

(b) Vegetable Materials. — The vegetable kingdom also con- 
tributed to the number of prophylactic amulets. Woodland 
sorrel, according to one authority, 145 protected the wearer from 
the danger of lippitudo, while the myrtle twig offered a like pro- 
tection against ulcers of the groin. 146 Wormwood, poplar, or 
vitex twigs, if worn about the person, were thought to protect 
the wearer from skin galls. 147 Tumors, we read, could be pre- 
vented by wearing about one the bark of the wild fig tree 148 
or ironwort. 149 Tertian fever, too, might be avoided by the 
simple means of wearing upon one's person grains of cummin 
prepared according to certain directions ; 150 and snake-bite 
need never be feared by him who had with him hiera botane, 
trifolium acutum, m or a parsnip. 152 

140 Marcellus Empiricus, 1, 41 (supra, 84). 

141 Marcellus Empiricus, 8, 45 (supra, 84). 

142 Pliny, N. H. 30, 91 (supra, 93). 

143 Pliny, N. H. 28, 246 (supra, 90). 

144 Pseudo-Pliny, 1, 17 (206, 1 Cod. St. GaUi 751; supra, 87). 

145 Marcellus Empiricus, 8, 41 (supra, 86). 

146 Pliny, N. H. 23, 163 (supra, 88). 

147 Pliny, N. H. 24, 47; 63: 26, 91 (supra, 91). 

148 Pliny, N. H. 23, 130 (supra, 91). 

149 Pliny, N. H. 26, 24 (supra, 91). 

150 Serenus Sammonicus, 916-918 (supra, 94). 

151 Scribonius Largus, 163 (supra, 95). 

152 Gargilius Martialis, Med. 33 (supra, 95-96). 



98 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

(c) Animal Materials. — The greatest number of medical 
amulets, however, was supplied by the animal kingdom. The 
eye of the lizard, for instance, was considered efficacious in 
averting pains in the eyes, 153 while the tail of that animal was 
thought to be an equally effective amulet in preventing colic. 154 
In like manner it was believed that whoever had a dragon's 
head about him was freed from all fear of lippitudo, 15 * and that 
the tail of the dragon would protect anyone who had it on his 
person from morbus comitialis. 1 ™ The head of the viper, accord- 
ing to popular belief, if worn as an amulet, would prevent 
goitre, 157 while the readily changeable chameleon would insure 
an easy childbirth. 158 

More insignificant animals, too, had the power to prevent 
disease. Thus, the fly, shut up alive in a capsule, was thought 
to prevent lippitudo; 159 while the shrew mouse, similarly en- 
closed in a ball of clay and suspended from the neck of cattle, 
was believed to keep other shrew mice from biting the cattle. 160 
Worms were imagined to prevent toothache 161 and conception. 162 
The scarab was hung from the necks of children as a general 
prophylactic agent. 163 

The teeth of various animals were especially adapted to use 
as amulets. To Roman parents it seemed quite a natural 
deduction that the tooth of the courageous wolf should protect 
the infant who wore it from childish fears and teething 
troubles ; 164 and even to the first-dropped tooth of a colt 

153 Marcellus Empiricus, 8, 50 (supra, 85) . 

154 Marcellus Empiricus, 29, 13 (supra, 88). 
166 Pliny, N. H. 29, 128 (supra, 86). 

156 pii nyj n. H. 30, 91 (supra, 93). 

157 Marcellus Empiricus, 15, 67 (supra, 87). 

158 Pliny, N. H. 28, 114 (supra, 91). 

159 Pliny, N. H. 28, 29 (supra, 86). 

160 Columella, 6, 17, 6 (supra, 95). 162 Pliny, N. H. 29, 85 (supra, 90) 

161 Pliny, N. H. 27, 89 (supra, 87). 163 Pliny, N. H. 11, 97 (supra, 92). 
164 Pliny, N. H. 28, 257 (supra, 92). 



MAGIC AND THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE 99 

the same mystic power was accorded. 165 By a similar course 
of reasoning it was argued that the first milk tooth lost by a 
boy, if worn in a woman's bracelet, would prevent pain in 
the female organs, 166 and that the tooth of the hyena would 
prevent night fears. 167 

Such fears might also be prevented by wearing upon one's 
person the right nipple or the right fore-foot of the hyena. 168 
This last named amulet recalls the use of the ' rabbit foot ' as 
an amulet, 169 a custom for which Roman parallels are not 
lacking. The ancient Romans believed, for instance, that 
one who kept about his person the knuckle bone of a hare 
would never suffer a pain in the stomach. 170 Other amulets 
of animal origin were the tongue of a fox, used to prevent 
lippitudo ; 171 an inscribed hog bladder, to prevent human 
bladder troubles ; 172 wolf skin, to prevent teething trouble 
and infants' fears ; 173 bones found imbedded in the wall of a 
house, to prevent daily recurrent fever ; 174 and excreta, bound 
on the abdomen, to prevent pain in that region. 175 

Of animal origin, too, were the bits of inscribed virgin parch- 
ment which we find used as medical amulets, 176 though in 

165 Serenus Sammonicus, 1031-1032 (supra, 92). 

166 Pliny, N. H. 28, 41 (supra, 89). 

167 Pliny, N. H. 28, 98 (supra, 93). 

168 Pliny, N. H. 28, 115 (supra, 93). 

169 Cf. supra, 87 and n. 114. 

170 Pliny, N. H. 28, 199 (supra, 88). The popularity and tenacity of 
this belief are attested by the fact that Marcellus Empiricus thrice (27, 
84: 28, 21; 48) repeats the words of Pliny almost verbatim. 

171 Pliny, N. H. 28, 172 (supra, 86). 

172 Pseudo-Pliny 2, 38 (supra, 88). Cf. also Pliny, N. H. 30, 63 (supra, 
88) for a similar use of the osprey's intestine. 

173 Pliny, N. H. 28, 257 (supra, 92). 

174 Serenus Sammonicus, 927-928 (supra, 83, n. 101). 

175 Marcellus Empiricus, 34, 34 (supra, 88). 

176 Pliny, N. H. 28, 29 (supra, 86); Pseudo-Pliny, 1, 17 (supra, 87); 
Marcellus Empiricus, 8, 85 (supra, 85) ; cf . with these Marcellus Empiricus, 
10, 35 (supra, 90). 



100 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

such cases we should probably attribute as much virtue to 
the incantamenta inscribed thereon as to the material of which 
the amulet was made. 177 

(d) Miscellaneous Materials. — In this group may be men- 
tioned the tying of the two middle fingers of the right hand 
together in order to prevent lippitudo or catarrh. 178 We may 
add the popular belief that one who feared disease in the groin 
might render himself immune from such afflictions if he took 
a thread from the loom, tied it into an odd number of knots, 
at the same time naming each knot for a different widow, and 
finally bound the knotted thread around the groin. 179 In like 
manner a piece of rope with which a person had committed 
suicide might be used as an amulet to prevent colic. 180 

(6) Inscriptions on Medical Amulets. — Many medical amu- 
lets seem to have derived their power from certain unintel- 
ligible words that were inscribed upon them. 181 Most of these 
words probably had no meaning originally. At any rate they 
have lost all meaning for us, and it is likely that they meant 
nothing to the Romans who used them. Any attempt, there- 
fore, to get a meaning from such words is almost useless. 182 
Besides, it is altogether probable that the average Roman 

177 Cf. below, n. 181. 

178 Pliny, N. H. 28, 42 (supra, 86-87). 

179 Pliny, N. H. 28, 48 (supra, 89). 

180 Marcellus Empiricus, 29, 13 (supra, 88). 

181 These inscriptions were usually made up, in part or as a whole, of 
'E0e<ria ypan/xara, or unintelligible words. Instances of such inscriptions 
have been given above (Marcellus Empiricus, 8, 58 [supra, 85]; 8, 59 
[supra, 86]; Pliny, N. H. 28, 29 [supra, 86]; Pseudo-Pliny, 1, 17 [supra, 
87]; 2, 38 [supra, 88]). An excellent treatment of 'E<j>k(rta ypafi^ara will 
be found in Heim, Incant. Mag. 525 ff. 

182 Just how useless such an attempt may be is shown by Bergk's- 
elaborate effort (Philol. 21, 481 f . = Kleine Schriften, 1, 556 f.) to explain 
the incantamentum of Cato, De Agr. 160. Concerning his interpretation 
another thorough German scholar (Heim, Incant. Mag. 534) remarks: 
hariolatus est. 



MAGIC AND THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE 101 

who practiced magic, like his modern counterpart, attributed 
greater power to unintelligible than to intelligible words. 183 

Certain other medical amulets were made more effective by 
incantamenta or vota pronounced in connection with their 
use. 184 It is a noteworthy fact that one of our amulets 185 
bears an inscription which, we are told, may be used as an 
incantamentum, or may serve equally well in its inscribed 
form as a powerful element of the amulet. On this account 
we should probably consider inscriptions occurring upon 
amulets as incantamenta perpetua vel muta. 

(7) Other Details in the Preparation of Medical Amulets. — 
Into the preparation of prophylactic amulets there often 
entered many additional elements which were thought to 
increase the virtue of the amulet proper. It was popularly 
believed, for instance, that certain days, or certain times of 
the day, were peculiarly suitable for making amulets; that 
odd numbers, especially the number three, increased the 
efficacy of an amulet in various ways; and that all persons 
concerned in the preparation, application, or use of an amulet 
should be pure. Since, however, these ideas are not restricted 
to that branch of prophylactic magic which employs amulets, 
and since they are all based upon the notion of sympathia, it 

183 This seems to be indicated by Ovid's words concerning Circe (Met. 
14, 365-366) : 

Concipit ilia preces, et verba venefica dicit 
ignotosque deos ignoto carmine adorat. . . . 

The evidence of Lucan (6, 686-687) points in the same direction: 

confudit murmura primum 
dissona et humanae multum discordia linguae. . . . 

See also Pliny, N. H. 28, 20 Neque est facile dictu, externa verba atque 
ineffabilia abrogent fidem validius an Latina et inopinata, quae inridicula 
videri cogit animus semper aliquid inmensum exspectans ac dignum deo 
movendo, immo vero quod numini imperet. 

184 See Pliny, N. H. 28, 48 (supra, 89); Marcellus Empiricus, 32, 19 
(supra, 89). 185 Marcellus Empiricus, 10, 35 (supra, 90). 



102 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

seems better to postpone a discussion of them until the whole 
subject of sympathia is taken up. 186 

(8) Where were Medical Amulets Worn f — Medical amulets, 
like other amulets, were worn by the Romans on various parts 
of the body, or even, occasionally, not on the body at all. In 
the case of amulets worn on the person it happened that certain 
parts of the body offered more natural advantages for attach- 
ing pendants than others did. Accordingly, we find the great- 
est number of amulets hung around the neck, 187 though many 
were attached to the arm, preferably the left arm. 188 Fre- 
quently, too, the amulet was worn on or near the part of the 
body for which protection was sought. In fact, many of the 
amulets that were worn suspended at the neck were so placed 
not only because that was the most convenient point of attach- 
ment, but because the amulet was being used to avert diseases 
of the head, throat, and neighboring parts. 189 Other parts 
of the body, especially the abdomen, were protected in the 

186 See infra, 113 ff. 

187 I have quoted above (84-95) thirteen instances of amulets worn at 
the neck. They are Columella, 6, 17, 6 (supra, 95); Pliny, N. H. 11, 97 
(supra, 92) : 28, 29 (supra, 86) ; Serenus Sammonicus, 916-918 (supra, 94) ; 
927-928 (supra, 84, n. 101); 1031-1032 (supra, 92); Pseudo-Pliny, 1, 17 
(supra, 87); Marcellus Empiricus, 8, 45 (supra, 84); 50 (supra, 85); 58 
(supra, 85); 59 (supra, 86): 15, 67 (supra, 87). 

188 Of amulets worn on the arm I have found seven instances. They 
are (cf . supra, 84-95) Pliny, N. H. 27, 89 (supra, 87) : 28, 41 (supra, 89) 
115 (supra, 93); 172 (supra, 86): 29, 64 (supra, 93): 30, 63 (supra 88) 
91 (supra, 93). In three of these passages (Pliny, N. H. 28, 115: 29, 64 
30, 91) the left arm is specified. In three passages (N. H. 28, 41; 172 
30, 63) neither arm is specified; but in one case (N. H. 27, 89), where the 
amulet is to be worn to avert toothache, it is to be attached to the arm 
corresponding to the side of the jaw on which trouble is anticipated. It 
would thus appear that the left arm was favored above the right, a notion 
quite in accord with Roman ideas of luck in divination. 

189 The following instances will make this point clear: Pliny, N. H. 
28, 29 (supra, 86) concerns amulets for averting lippitudo; Serenus Sam- 
monicus, 1031-1032 (supra, 92) has to do with a means of warding off 
teething troubles; the amulet mentioned in Pseudo-Pliny, 1, 17 (supra, 87) 



MAGIC AND THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE 103 

same manner. 190 Sometimes we are not told where the amulet 
was to be attached. 191 Finally, the amulet need not be worn 
on the body at all, but could be suspended from a candela- 
brum 192 or simply kept in the home of the person who was 
to be protected. 193 Amulets were usually attached to the body 
of the wearer by means of a thread (licium or linwri), 19 * though 
in one instance it is specifically enjoined that the amulet be 
attached with the tendon of a deer. 195 

(9) Amulet Containers. — Roman medical amulets were 
enclosed in containers of various kinds. The most pretentious 
were in the form of golden lockets 196 or bracelets. 197 Occa- 

was intended to protect the wearer from a cough; that mentioned by 
Marcellus Empiricus (1, 41 [quoted supra, 84]) was used to avert head- 
ache; those spoken of by Marcellus Empiricus (8, 45; 50; 58; 59 [supra, 
84-86]) have to do with pains and diseases of the eye; and the amulet 
given by the same author (15, 67) is for averting goitre. 

190 Amulets were attached to the abdomen in order to protect the 
wearers from colic (Marcellus Empiricus, 29, 13: 34, 34 [supra, 88]), 
bladder trouble (Pseudo-Pliny, 2, 38 [supra, 88]) ; disease of the groin 
(Pliny, N. H. 28, 48), and probably, to prevent excessive menstrual flow 
(Marcellus Empiricus, 10, 35 [supra, 90]), and conception (Pliny, N. H. 
29, 85 [supra, 90]) ; though it is not definitely stated in the last two pas- 
sages where the amulet is to be worn. 

191 This is true of Scribonius Largus, 163 (supra, 95) ; Pliny, N. H. 23, 
130 (supra, 91); 163 (supra, 88): 26, 91 (supra, 91): 28, 98 (supra, 93); 
111 (supra, 94); 114 (supra, 91); 199 (supra, 88); 257 (supra, 92): 29, 
128 (supra, 86): 137 (supra, 93); 32, 24 (supra, 92): 37, 50; 114 (supra, 
92); Gargilius Martialis, Med. 33 (supra, 96, n. 133); Marcellus Em- 
piricus, 8, 41 (supra, 86): 27, 84 (supra, 88): 28, 48 (supra, 88). 

192 Cf. Marcellus Empiricus, 34, 34 (supra, 88). 

193 Cf. Pliny, N. H. 28, 114 (supra, 91). 

194 Cf. Pliny, N. H. 28, 29 (supra, 86); 98 (supra, 93); Marcellus 
Empiricus, 8, 58 (supra, 85) : 34, 34 (supra, 88); and, perhaps, Pliny, N. H. 
27, 89 (supra, 87); and Serenus Sammonicus, 927-928 (supra, 83, n. 101); 
though in the last two passages the thread is not specifically mentioned. 

195 Pliny, N. H. 30, 91 (supra, 93). 

196 Marcellus Empiricus, 8, 45 (supra, 84); 50 (supra, 85): 29, 13 
(supra, 88). The golden bulla was also believed to have prophylactic 
power (cf. the reference to Marcellus just given and infra, 104, n. 206). 

197 Pliny, N. H. 28, 41 (supra, 89). 



104 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

sionally the amulet was enclosed in a small box (pyxis). 198 
Soft materials, such as a linen cloth 199 or a lock of wool, 200 
were also used as containers. The skins of the hyena, 201 the 
deer, 202 and the gazelle 203 were also recommended for this use, 
and in one instance it is specifically stated that the piece of 
skin should be red. 204 Finally, a ball of hardened clay might 
serve as a fitting receptacle for the amulet. 205 To what extent 
the material of the container was believed to possess magic 
power we can not be certain. We do know, however, that 
;gold " had some potency as a charm." 206 

Colors of Amulet Containers. — The color of the case or con- 
tainer in which the medical amulet was enclosed seems to 
have been a matter of considerable importance. For instance, 
the amulet that was to be used to avert lippitudo should be 
enclosed in a white linen cloth. 207 More interesting, perhaps, 
from the standpoint of sympathetic magic, is the use of red 
and of black amulet containers for specific purposes. Thus, 
an amulet* to avert diurnal fever was fittingly enclosed in a 
container of red cloth, while an amulet to avert nocturnal 
fever was concealed in a lock of wool that had been stolen 
at night. 208 In this case the red container apparently symbolizes 

198 Pliny, N. H. 27, 89 (supra, 87). 

199 Pliny, N. H. 28, 29 (supra, 86); Marcellus Empiricus, 1, 85: 15, 
67 (supra, 87). 

200 pii n y ? n. H. 28, 111; 114 (supra, 94): 29, 64 (supra, 93); Marcellus 
Empiricus, 34, 34 (supra, 88). 

201 Pliny, N. H. 28, 115 (supra, 93). 

202 Pliny, N. H. 29, 85 (supra, 90). 

203 Pliny, N. H. 30, 91 (supra, 93). 

204 Serenus Sammonicus, 916-918 (supra, 94). 

205 Columella, 6, 17, 6 (supra, 95). 

206 See Fowler, Rel. Exper. 60, n. 41; Frazer, G. B. 1, 1, 80. For the 
requirement of gold in magic, see Pliny, N. H. 20, 29: 28, 259: 29, 130: 
33, 84; Marcellus Empiricus, 29, 23; 26. 

207 Pliny, N. H. 28, 29 (supra, 86). 

208 Pliny, N. H. 29, 64 (supra, 93). 



MAGIC AND THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE 105 

the light of the sun under whose eye the diurnal fever operates, 209 
while the stolen container of wool symbolizes the stealthy 
approach of the nocturnal fever. In like manner amulets in- 
tended to avert tertian fever were encased in red containers, 210 
while those used against quartan fever were encased in black. 211 
We should be very careful, however, not to draw too general 
a conclusion from these facts. 212 It seems wiser to limit our- 
selves to the statement that Roman prophylactic magic prac- 
tice recommended specific colors as peculiarly suitable for the 
containers of specific amulets, and that these colors are prob- 
ably to be explained upon the basis of sympathia. More than 
that we can not say. 

B. PROPHYLACTIC MAGIC BY MEANS OTHER THAN 

AMULETS 

In the foregoing pages of this chapter we have considered 
only the amulet as a means of preventing disease. The amulet 
was not, however, the only means of prophylactic magic em- 
ployed by the Romans. Numerous diseases of the head, throat, 
abdomen, and skin, as well as fevers, were considered pre- 
ventable by means of magic not involving the use of amulets. 
It is to this class of beliefs that we shall now devote our 
attention. 

209 Yov the sun as the all-seeing god in connection with medical amulets 
cf. Marcellus Empiricus, 8, 58 (supra, 85). 

210 Serenus Sammonicus, 916-918 (supra, 94). 

211 Pliny, N. H. 28, 111; 114 (supra, 94). The former reference has 
the words lana ovis nigrae, cui nullus alius colos incur saverit. . . . We may 
gather, therefore, that the color of the amulet container was not an unim- 
portant matter. 

212 As a matter of fact, among the amulets used for curing rather than 
for preventing quartan fever we find the colors of the containers reversed, 
the red container being recommended (Pliny, N. H. 30, 99). 



106 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

(1) Diseases Prevented 

1. Diseases of the Eye. — (a) The two remedies which follow 
were thought to avert all eye troubles. Pliny, N. H. 23, 110 : 

Si quis unum ex his (i.e. cytinis malorum Punicorum), solutus 
vinculo omni cinctus et calciatus atque etiam anuli, decerpserit II 
digitis, pollice et quarto, sinistrae manus atque ita lustratis levi tactu 
oculis in os additum devoraverit, ne dente contingat, adfirmatur 
nullam oculorum inbecillitatem passurus eodem anno; 

28, 73 : 

Eum, qui simul matris filiaeque lacte inunctus sit, liberari omni 
oculorum metu in totam vitam adfirmant. 

(b) Lippitudo. — In addition to such general measures for 
the prevention of all eye troubles there are also found specific 
measures of protection against lippitudo. 213 Pliny (N. H. 28, 44) 
is our autlv>rity for the following bit of popular belief : Oculorum 
vitia fieri negant nee lippire eos, qui, cum pedes lavent, aqua 
inde ter oculos tangant. To this we may add Pliny's statement 
regarding an Egyptian custom (N. H. 27, 105) : Tradunt 
Aegypti, mensis, quern Thoti vocant, die XXVIII fere in 
Augustum mensem incurrente si quis huius herbae (i.e. my- 
osotae) suco inungatur mane, priusquam loquatur, non lippi- 
turum eo anno. Saliva, too, furnished a simple means of 
preventing lippitudo (Pliny, N. H. 28, 37) : Credamus . . . 
lippitudines matutina cottidie velut inunctione (sc. salivae 
arceri). 214 Easily available was the following method also 
(Pliny, N. H. 29, 128) : Ciconiae pullum qui ederit, negatur 
annis multis continuis lippiturus. Of a different character 
was the popular belief preserved for us by Marcellus Empiricus 
(8, 55) : Ut omnino non lippias, cum stellam cadere vel trans- 

213 Cf. supra, 85-87. 

214 Cf. supra, 71, n. 37. Marcellus Empiricus, 8, 29 and 30 seem to 
me to reflect popular religion rather than pure magic beliefs. 



MAGIC AND THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE 107 

currere videris, numera, et celeriter numera, donee se condat; 
tot enim annis, quot numeraveris, non lippies. 

2. Toothache. — For the prevention of toothache Pliny 
mentions two popular practices, both of them based upon the 
belief in the magic power of odd numbers, more especially of 
the number three. We are told (N. H. 28, 56) : frigida (sc. 
aqua) matutinis inpari numero (sc. colluere ora) ad cavendos 
dentium dolores . . . certum experimentum est. And again 
we read (N. H. 32, 37) : Quod si dentes ter annis colluantur 
testudinum sanguine, immunes a dolore fiant. A much more 
elaborate method of preventing toothache is given by Marcellus 
Empiricus (12, 46) in the following words : 

Cum primum hirundinem videris, tacebis et ad aquam nitidam 
accedes atque inde in os tuum mittes; deinde digito obscoeno, id est 
medio, tarn manus dextrae quam sinistrae dentes fricabis et dices: 
'Hirundo, tibi dico, quomodo hoc (i.e. aqua) in rostro iterum non 
erit, sic mihi dentes non doleant toto anno.' Iterum alium annum et 
deinceps sequentibus similiter f acies, si volueris remedii huius quotannis 
manere beneficium. 

3. Quinsy. — Concerning this disease we read in Celsus 
(Med. 4, 7) : Vulgo audio, si quis pullum hirundinis ederit, 
angina toto anno non periclitari. 215 This bit of preventive 
medicine persisted among the common people, for some years 
later Pliny says (N. H. 30, 33) : Multi cuiuscumque hirundinis 
pullum edendum censent, ut toto anno non metuatur id malum 
(i.e. angina). That the vegetable world furnished a similar 
protective substance we learn also from Pliny (N. H. 24, 174) : 
Mirum traditur, numquam eo morbo (i.e. angina) temptari 
qui (sc. herbam impiam) gustaverint. . . . 

4. Uvular Complaints. — The fact that the word uva meant 
both a grape and the uvula is responsible for the following 
bit of sympathetic preventive medicine, from Marcellus Em- 

215 For the full text cf . supra, 73, n. 45. 



108 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

piricus (14, 52) : Uvam toto anno non dolebit, qui, cum 
primum uvam viderit procedentem, sinistra manu digito medi- 
cinali et pollice granum vulsum sic transglutierit, ut dentibus 
non contingat. 

5. Pains in the Neck were believed to be prevented by the 
use of saliva, as Pliny tells us (N. H. 28, 37) : Credamus . . . 
cervicis dolores (sc. arceri) saliva ieiuni dextra manu ad dextrum 
poplitem relata, laeva ad sinistrum. 216 

6. Epilepsy. — For the prevention of epilepsy the Magi, 
according to Pliny (N. H. 28, 259), used the following means : 
Cerebrum caprae Magi per anulum 217 aureum 218 traiectum, 
priusquam lac detur, infantibus instillant contra comitiales 
ceterosque infantium morbos. With this we may compare 
the custom prevalent among the Romans of averting epilepsy 
from one's self by spitting upon the epileptic. We read in 
Pliny (N. H. 28, 35) : Despuimus comitiales morbos, hoc est 
contagia regerimus. 219 

7. Skin Diseases. — Under this head I have included all 
diseases that are apparent on the skin, even though they may 
be more deeply seated. 

(a) Tetter, Leprosy, and Cancer. — For the prevention of all 
of these the saliva of a fasting person seems to have been the 
popular means. Upon this point we may quote Pliny (N. H. 
28, 37) : Credamus ergo et lichenas leprasque ieiunae (sc. 
salivae) inlitu adsiduo arceri; item . . . carcinomata malo 
terrae subacto. . . . 220 

216 Cf. supra, 71, n. 37. 

217 Cf. Marcellus Empiricus, 8, 49 (supra, 85). 

218 Cf. supra, 104 and n. 206. 

219 Cf. supra, 71, n. 37. 

220 I should hesitate to classify these remedies under the head of pro- 
phylactic magic were it not for the context in which they are found. Since, 
however, paragraphs 35-39 of this book of Pliny are entirely devoted to a 
discussion of the magic qualities of spittle, we must consider as magic 
that which is quoted above. 



MAGIC AND THE PKEVENTION OF DISEASE 109 

(b) Wrinkles. — Here we may cite Pliny (N. H. 22, 65): 
Virus folii (i.e. heliotropii) in urina pueri inpubis tritum quidem 
cum aphronitro et inlitum ventri mulierum, ne rugosus fiat, 
praestare dicitur. 221 

(c) Varicose Veins. — Pliny informs us (N. H. 30, 76) that 
this trouble may be prevented in the following manner : Varices 
ne nascantur, lacertae 222 sanguine pueris crura ieiunis a ieiuno 
inlinuntur. This recipe is repeated with some additional details 
by Marcellus Empiricus (34, 8) : Varices ne nascantur, lacertae 
sanguine crura puero ieiunus inline; in totum carebit hac 
foeditate. From these two passages it is quite apparent that 
the fasting 223 of him who was to be protected and of him who 
applied the ointment was an essential element. 

8. Abdominal Diseases. — In speaking of the good old days 
of simple fare Ovid remarks (Fasti 6, 180-182) : 

Terra fabas tantum duraque farra dabat 
quae duo mixta simul sextis quicumque Kalendis 
ederit, huic laedi viscera posse negant. 

In this passage the poet seems to be repeating an actual 
ancient Italian belief. 

There were certain wonderful external applications also 
which were believed to have the power of protecting the ab- 
domen from disease. Thus, we read in Pliny (N. H. 30, 64) : 
Magi quidem vespertilionis sanguine contacto ventre in totum 
annum caveri tradunt. This passage is repeated with a slight 
addition by Marcellus Empiricus (28, 45) : Quotiens dolor 
et contractio intestinorum ventris orietur, vespertilionis san- 
guine ventre manu perfricato et ad praesens subvenies et in 
totum annum medebere. 

221 Cf. infra, 115. 

222 We have already pointed out (supra, 85, 86, 88, 98) the impor- 
tance of the lizard, in connection with prophylactic amulets. 

223 Cf. Pliny, n! H. 28, 35; 37 (supra, 108). 



110 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

9. Fevers. — I have found only one instance of the pre- 
vention of fevers by prophylactic magic without the use of 
amulets. It occurs in Pliny (N. H. 25, 106) : Magi utique 
circa hanc (i.e. hieran botanen) insaniunt : hac perunctos im- 
petrare quae velint, febres abigere, amicitias conciliare nullique 
non morbo mederi. 224 

(2) Materials Used in Magic Prophylaxis Apart from the Use 

of Amulets 

In the list of materials, other than amulets, which the Romans 
used to ward off disease we find somewhat the same variety as 
we discovered in our discussion of amulets. 225 There is, how- 
ever, the very natural difference that, whereas the materials 
for amulets were found to consist normally of gold, stones, 
bits of parchment and the like, which were peculiarly adapted 
to such uses, prophylactic materials of the kind we are now 
considering consisted of substances such as blood, spittle, water, 
and milk, the use of which as amulets was impossible. Such 
means of preventing disease were almost exclusively of animal 
or vegetable origin, and they were either applied as an oint- 
ment 226 or were eaten. 227 

224 In the paragraph immediately following the one quoted above 
Pliny indicates with what careful attention to magical detail such plants 
must be collected: Colligi debere circa canis ortum ita, ne luna aut sol 
conspiciat, favis ante et melle terrae ad piamentum datis; circumscriptam 
ferro effodi sinistra manu et in sublime tolli. . . . 

225 Cf . supra, 96-100. 

226 Cf. Pliny, N. H. 25, 106 (supra, 110): 27, 105 (supra, 106): 28, 
37 (supra, 106, 108); 44 (supra, 106); 73 (supra, 106): 30, 64 (supra, 109); 
76 (supra, 109) ; Marcellus Empiricus, 12, 46 (supra, 107) : 28, 45 (supra, 
109): 34, 8 (supra, 109). Of a similar character are Pliny, N. H. 28, 56 
(supra, 107): 32, 37 (supra, 107), where the liquid is used as a wash; 
N. H. and 28, 259 (supra, 108), where the liquid is dropped upon the head 
of the person who is to be protected. 

227 Cf. Celsus, Med. 4, 7 (supra, 107); Ovid, Fasti 6, 180-182 (supra, 
109); Pliny, N. H. 23, 110 (supra, 106): 24, 174 (supra, 107): 29, 128 
(supra, 106): 30, 33 (supra, 107); Marcellus Empiricus, 14, 52 (supra, 108). 



MAGIC AND THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE 111 

(a) Animal Materials. — Of the animal creation the swallow, 
bat, lizard, she-goat, stork, and tortoise made important con- 
tributions to the materia medica of prophylactic magic. It was 
thought possible, for instance, by eating a young swallow to 
ward off quinsy for a year. 228 Again, if, upon seeing the first 
swallow of the season, a person went silently to a brook, took 
water in his mouth, and pronounced a certain formula, he was 
thought to be freed from all fear of toothache for a year. 229 
Likewise one could be freed from abdominal pains for a year 
by touching that region with the blood of a bat. 230 The blood 
of the lizard, too, was considered efficacious in preventing vari- 
cose veins, if it was rubbed upon the parts likely to be thus 
afflicted ; 231 while the she-goat's brain, drawn through a gold 
ring and dropped upon the head of an infant, was said to be 
a preventive of epilepsy. 232 It was also believed that if one 
should eat the young of the stork, one need not fear lippitudo, 233 
and that he who washed his teeth three times a year with the 
blood of a tortoise was freed from all possibility of toothache. 234 

Not only were the parts of various animals greatly valued 
as a means of preventing disease, but certain animal excreta 
and products also were held in high esteem. Thus, the urine of 
a puer impubis 235 was used as the medium in which to mix an 
ointment to prevent wrinkles upon the abdomen. Spittle, par- 
ticularly that of a fasting person, was believed to prevent lip- 
pitudo, pain in the neck, tetter, leprosy, cancer, and epilepsy. 236 

228 Cf. Celsus, Med. 4, 7 (supra, 107); Pliny, N. H. 30, 33 (supra, 107). 

229 Marcellus Empiricus, 12, 46 (supra, 107). 

230 pij nyj n. H. 30, 64 (supra, 109); Marcellus Empiricus, 28, 45 
(supra, 109). 

231 Pliny, N. H. 30, 76 (supra, 109); Marcellus Empiricus, 34, 8 
(supra, 109). 

232 Pliny, N. H. 28, 259 (supra, 108). 

233 Pliny, N. H. 29, 128 (supra, 106). 

234 Pliny, N. H. 32, 37 (supra, 107). 

235 Pliny, N. H. 22, 65 (supra, 109). 

236 Pliny, N. H. 28, 35 (supra, 108); 37 (supra, 106; 108). 



112 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

We are told, also, that, if one were fortunate enough to obtain 
as an ointment human milk from both mother and daughter 
at the same time, this wonderful combination would forever 
free from all eye diseases anyone who was anointed with it. 237 
This last beneficent effect might also be produced by thrice 
touching the eyes with the water which was left over after 
washing one's feet. 238 

Vegetable substances possessing magic prophylactic qualities 
were sometimes eaten, sometimes used as ointments. Thus, 
a part of the pomegranate was eaten in order to ward off 
diseases of the eyes ; 239 grapes were eaten to avert diseases 
of the uvula ; 240 herba impia, to prevent quinsy ; 241 spelt and 
beans, to free one from all future bowel troubles ; 242 and parsnip, 
to avert snake-bite. 243 Heliotrope, when reduced to the form 
of an ointment, according to popular belief, was a preventive 
of abdominal wrinkles ; 244 hiera botane could avert the possi- 
bility of fevers ; 245 and the plant called mouse ear (myosota) 
was used to prevent lippitudo. 2 * 6 

Some of the means whereby magic prophylaxis was insured 
were incorporeal, as when one counted as rapidly as possible 
while watching the course of a shooting star, in the belief that 
his own eyes would retain the bright gleam of health for exactly 
as many years as he succeeded in counting before the bright 
gleam of the shooting star faded in the dark sky. 247 

237 Pliny, N. H. 28, 73 (supra, 106). 

238 pii n y^ n. H. 28, 44 (supra, 106). 

239 Pliny, N. H. 23, 110 (supra, 106). 

240 Marcellus Empiricus, 14, 52 (supra, 108). 

241 Pliny, N. H. 24, 174 (supra, 107). 

242 Ovid, Fasti, 6, 180-182 (supra, 109). 

243 Cf. supra, 96 and n. 133. 

244 Pliny, N. H. 22, 65 (supra, 109). 

245 Pliny, N. H. 25, 106-107 (supra, 110). 

246 Pliny, N. H. 27, 105 (supra, 106). 

247 Marcellus Empiricus, 8, 55 (supra, 106-107). 



MAGIC AND THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE 113 

C SYMPATHIA THE BASIS OF PROPHYLACTIC MAGIC 

A careful consideration of the facts presented in the fore- 
going pages on Roman prophylactic magic leads me to the 
conclusion that the basis of nearly all such beliefs was sympa- 
thia. It is my purpose to present in the remaining pages 
of this dissertation the evidence for this conclusion. 

(1) Sympathia Essential to Amulets. — In our definition of an 
amulet 248 we said that the power of taboo which was inherent 
in the amulet was the result of a specific association of ideas. 
It should be stated, however, at once that, though in many 
cases the associated ideas are quite apparent, in many other 
cases we are somewhat in doubt ; and in still others we have lost 
entirely the thread of thought which, in times gone by and under 
different conditions, led men to attribute to certain amulets 
a sympathetic control over certain diseases. We may reason- 
ably assume, however, that, if we were better acquainted with 
the mental and spiritual life of the common people of Italy 
during the classical era, we should be able to explain upon the 
basis of sympathia the power of many medical amulets, the 
secret of which is no longer clear. 

Given the fundamental thought that like affects like, we 
have introduced a principle of magic action, the application of 
which in the field of medical amulets is almost limitless. This 
sympathetic power may arise from the source of the amulet, 
its appearance, its natural qualities in its native state, its 
action while functioning as an amulet, the sympathetic position 
of its component parts, or from accompanying incantamenta. 

(a) The Source of the Amulet as the Basis of the Sympathia. — 
A very common type of amulet is that which is obtained from 
various parts of animals in order to protect from disease similar 
parts of those who wear the amulet. Thus, the stone found in 

248 Supra, 77-78. 



114 STUDIES IN MAGIC FEOM LATIN LITERATURE 

the head of a snail was worn as an amulet to avert headache. 249 
Certain amulets used to prevent lippitudo are even more 
definitely sympathetic. We read, for instance, in Marcellus 
Empiricus 250 that if the eye of a green lizard is put out and the 
animal placed in a glass jar along with certain rings, the sight 
will be restored to the blinded eye. If the lizard is then released, 
it goes away, taking with it, apparently, all present or prospec- 
tive human eye diseases. The rings, on the other hand, were 
thought, through contact with the lizard, to have become power- 
ful amulets for averting lippitudo. Sometimes the blinded 
lizard itself was enclosed in a bulla in order to avert pains in 
the eye, or even a drop of blood from its blinded eye might 
serve the same purpose. 251 Doubtless the keen, prominent eye 
of the lizard was responsible for these beliefs. To the same 
cause we may attribute the belief that one who kept about his 
person the head of a dragon would never suffer from bleareye. 252 
The physical peculiarity of the asp gave rise to an interesting 
bit of sympathia. The neck of this serpent has a loose skin 
which at times is inflated so that it suggests a goitre or wen. 
On this account it was commonly believed that the neck of 
the asp, if hung as an amulet around a man's neck, would avert 
goitre. 263 The same process of reasoning led the Roman popu- 
lace to believe that the inscribed bladder of a male hog, if 
placed upon a man's abdomen, would protect the wearer from 
bladder troubles, and that the same organ of a female hog would 
perform a similar service for women. 254 Likewise, the tooth of 
the fearless wolf was quite naturally used as an amulet to allay 

249 Marcellus Empiricus, 1, 41 (supra, 84). According to the same 
author (1, 85), the whole snail, worn in a bag as an amulet, had the power 
of curing headache. 

250 8, 49 (supra, 85). 

251 Marcellus Empiricus, 8, 50 (supra, 85). 

252 Pliny, N. H. 29, 128 (supra, 86). 

253 Marcellus Empiricus, 15, 67 (supra, 87). 

254 Pseudo-Pliny, 2, 38 (supra, 88). 



MAGIC AND THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE 115 

childish fears and to assist in teething. 265 Upon the basis of 
association of ideas it is equally easy to explain why the white 
flesh from a female hyena's breast together with seven of her 
hairs and the genitals of a deer wrapped together in the skin 
of a gazelle were thought to prevent miscarriage. 256 So, too, it 
was believed in some quarters that the wonderfully efficacious 
intestine of the osprey, if worn as an amulet, could prevent 
colic. 257 Cattle also could be protected from the bite of the 
shrew mouse by having suspended from their necks an amulet 
containing a shrew mouse. 258 

The same principle of sympathia operated in the field of 
prophylactic magic by means other than amulets. The Roman 
populace argued, for instance, that, because the skin of a boy's 
abdomen was free from wrinkles, it naturally followed that 
a certain ointment, mixed in the urine of a boy, and spread 
upon the abdomen of a woman, would keep the latter from 
becoming wrinkled. 259 In like manner the brain of a she-goat 
was used to prevent epilepsy in children. 260 

(b) The Appearance of the Amulet as the Basis of Sympathia. — 
Very important, also, is the sympathia due to the appearance 
of the material used for an amulet. The cherry seed, for 
instance, looks somewhat like an eyeball, especially if a hole 
is bored through the seed to represent the pupil. Hence, 
bored cherry seeds were considered, under certain conditions, 
an effective amulet for preventing pains in the eyes. 261 Simi- 
larity of appearance was responsible also for the belief that 
the swelling bark of the wild fig tree could prevent the growth 

255 piiny, N. H. 28, 257 (supra, 92). Cf. Serenus Sammonicus, 1031- 
1032 (supra, 92). 

256 Pliny, N. H. 28, 98 (supra, 90). 

257 Pliny, N. H. 30, 63 (supra, 88). 

258 Columella, 6, 17, 6 (supra, 95). 

259 Pliny, N. H. 22, 65 (supra, 109). 
2 <5o Pliny, N. H. 28, 259 (supra, 108). 

261 Marcellus Empiricus, 8, 27 (supra, 84); cf. infra, 121. 



116 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

of the tumor known as struma. 2 * 2 Certain inscriptions, too, 
which appear on amulets, seem to be based upon a sympathia 
of appearance and function. Thus, on an amulet used to ward 
off diseases of the human eye, the inscription makes mention 
of the all-seeing eye of the sun. 263 Even the colors of amulet 
containers were chosen with a view to their sympathetic power. 264 
Finally, the accidental identity of words was made the basis 
of sympathia 265 

(c) The Natural Qualities of the Amulet Material as the Basis 
of Sympathia. — Many objects were used as amulets because 
in their native condition they possessed certain qualities which 
the wearer of the amulet wished to reproduce in himself. For 
example, since the tooth of a colt is cut without apparent pain 
and is well developed, it followed that the first-dropped tooth 
of a colt, worn as an amulet, would avert teething troubles. 266 
In the same way the fact that the hyena prowls by night and 
devours corpses may be shown to be responsible for the belief 
that the tgoth of this beast was an effective amulet for ward- 
ing off night fears, especially the fear of ghosts. 267 A similar 
power was attributed to the right foot of the hyena, if it was 
enclosed in the skin of the same animal. 268 The mystic feeling 
that like affects like lay also at the base of the belief that the 
presence of the smoothly gliding, changeable chameleon in 
the home would guarantee an easy childbirth, 269 and that 
knots tied in a string had a sympathetic restraining effect, 
tying up, so to speak, certain parts, so that they could not 

262 Pliny, N. H. 23, 130 (supra, 91). 

263 Marcellus Empiricus, 8, 58 (supra, 85). 

264 Cf. supra, 104-105. 

265 Cf. supra, 107-108. 

268 Serenus Sammonicus, 1031-1032 (supra, 92). For the use of the 
tooth of the wolf as an amulet cf. supra, 114-115. 

267 Pliny, N. H. 28, 98 (supra, 93). 

268 Pliny, N. H. 28, 115 (supra, 93). 

269 Pliny, N. H. 28, 114 (supra, 91). 



MAGIC AND THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE 117 

swell with disease. 270 A like inhibiting effect is apparent in 
the use of a crocodile's heart as an amulet to ward off fever. 271 
For it seems reasonable to suppose that the heart of a cold- 
blooded animal would be a natural protective agency against 
the heat of fever. The thought of negation is also prominent 
in the use of the first lost milk tooth of a boy to prevent pains 
in the female organs ; 272 the wearer of this amulet probably 
reasoned that in the future she would be as free from female 
pains as was the original possessor of the tooth. 

(d) Growth and Withering of the Amulet as the Basis of Sym- 
pathia. — Sometimes the growth or withering of a vegetable 
amulet furnished the basis of sympathia. It was believed, we 
are informed by Pliny, 273 that persons who had been cured of a 
tumor by the use of a plant called sideritis latifolia or by 
artemisia or even by plantain should carefully preserve that 
particular plant, lest wicked and hostile herbarii should plant 
it, and with the second growth of the plant the disease should 
take on a second growth. Here we have a disease that was 
made to decrease with the withering plant and to come back 
again with the reanimation of the plant. Under such circum- 
stances the withered plant becomes a kind of negative amulet, 
capable of preventing disease as long as it remains under the 
control of its original owner. 274 

(e) Certain Acts or Positions as a Basis of Sympathia. — There 
were certain acts, too, of a sympathetic nature, which played 
a part in the prevention of disease. I have cited above 275 

270 Pliny, N. H. 28, 48 (supra, 89). 272 Pliny, N. H. 28, 41 (supra, 89). 

271 Pliny, N. H. 28, 111 (supra, 94). 273 Pliny, N. H. 26, 24 (supra, 91). 

274 Of similar nature, perhaps, was the belief that one might be pro- 
tected from toothache for the space of a year (Pliny, N. H. 27, 89: cf. 
supra, 87) by enclosing a certain worm in bread, and the latter, in turn, 
in an amulet case. It seems likely that the bread was supposed to keep 
the worm alive for a year, and that when the worm died and decayed, the 
tooth was believed to do likewise. 

275 Marcellus Empiricus, 12, 46 (supra, 107). 



118 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

a very interesting method of preventing toothache which 
involves mimetic and dramatic features. Sometimes the 
person who sought protection from disease loosened from about 
his body all objects that could possibly bind his person, in 
order that nothing might hinder the free play of the protecting 
agency. 276 At other times the secret of the sympathia lay in 
the relative position of certain parts of the body, as when the 
two middle fingers of the right hand were bound together in 
order to prevent catarrh or lippitudo. 277 

(f) Sympathia of Seasons. — Certain seasons of the year 
were thought to enhance the sympathetic power of various 
prophylactic substances. In the days of Pliny it was thought 
best to gather the vervain, a plant which was used to avert 
fevers, at about the rising of the dog star, when neither sun 
nor moon might behold the act. 278 The same author tells 
us 279 that the Egyptians considered the twenty-eighth day 
of the month Thoti the only day upon which one should be 
anointed with the juice of the plant called mouse ear in order 
to avert lippitudo. In much the same spirit the Romans be- 
lieved that if you ate beans and spelt on the first day of June, 
your digestion would be guaranteed for the year. 280 In the 
later centuries, as we gather from Marcellus Empiricus, 281 
the Roman populace esteemed the Ides of each month, es- 
pecially the Ides of September, the most suitable time for 

276 Cf. Pliny, N. H. 23, 110 (supra, 106). Cf. also the broken ring of the 
Flamen Dialis (supra, 81). 

277 Cf. Pliny, N. H. 28, 42 (supra, 86-87). Such magic, as we have shown 
above (62-63), was of very early occurrence among the Romans. 

278 Pliny, N. H. 25, 107 (supra, 110, n. 224). 

279 N. H. 27, 105 (supra, 106). 

280 Ovid, Fasti 6, 180-182 (supra, 109). For beans in ancient Italian 
ritual see Fowler, R. F. 130-133. 

281 Cf. 8, 49 (supra, 85-86); 50 (supra, 85) for the Ides of September. 
Other references to the Ides, without specification of the month, are 14, 
68: 29, 23. 



MAGIC AND THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE 119 

preparing medical amulets. The time of the day seems also 
to have had an importance due to sympathia, as we know from 
the fact that believers in magic were enjoined to gather certain 
vegetable ingredients of amulets before sunrise. 282 

(g) Sympathia of Odd Numbers. — The Romans, like many 
other peoples, believed in the superior magic power of odd 
numbers, particularly the number three and its multiples. 283 
We are not surprised, therefore, to find such numbers especially 
recommended in the composition of medical amulets and other 
means of prophylactic magic. Sometimes the sympathia of 
numbers is quite apparent, as in the case of the man who counted 

282 Scribonius Largus, 163 (supra, 95). Cf. Pliny, N. H. 24, 170 (supra 
94): 25, 107 (supra, 110, n. 224). That certain medical amulets were ap- 
plied to the person before sunrise we know from Pliny, N. H. 23, 130 
(supra, 91): 29, 85 (supra, 90). For numerous magical acts to be per- 
formed before sunrise cf. Pliny, N. H. 20, 29; 217: 24, 133: 25, 145 
28, 78: 32, 115; Pseudo-Pliny, 2, 54 (p. 252, 1. 29 Cod. St. Galli 751 
cf. Heim, Incant. Mag. 560); Marcellus Empiricus, 14, 65: 15, 101 

26, 41. 

283 H. Usener, in an article entitled Dreiheit (Rheinisches Museum, 58 
[1903], 1-47; 161-208; 321-362), deals admirably with the role played 
by the number three in Roman religion. Of its important role in Roman 
magic, however, he does not treat at all. For the number three and its 
multiples in Roman magic the important literary references are Cato, R. R. 
70; Varro, R. R. 1, 2, 27; Cicero, Cat. 3, 9; Vergil, Eel. 8, 73-78; Pseudo- 
Vergil, Ciris 369-377; Tibullus, 1, 2, 53-56; Livy, 27, 37: 31, 12, 5-9; 
Ovid, Fasti 2, 571-582: 4, 549-554; 727: 6, 155-156; 753-754: Met. 
7,152-156; 188-198; 261 ff.: 14,58; 387; Seneca, Med. 771-772; Pliny, 
N. H. 8, 106: 20, 171: 21, 42: 22, 135: 24, 172: 25, 148; 167: 26, 93: 

27, 131: 28, 21: 29, 100: 30, 35; 51; 101; 108: 34, 151. 

Among the Romans all odd numbers were considered of better omen 
than even numbers, and hence more efficacious in medicine. Cf . Mommsen 
Hist, of Rome (Eng. Trans.), 1, 271 and n. 1; Fowler, R. F. 3; Varro 
R. R. 3, 9, 4; 12; Pseudo-Vergil, Ciris 369-377; Scribonius Largus, 16 
ColumeUa, 8, 5, 8; Pliny, N. H. 23, 156: 24, 82: 28, 23; 33; 56: 30, 44 
108; Gellius, 15, 7, 1; 3; Marcellus Empiricus, 1, 50; 78; 100: 7, 7 
8, 49: 9, 2: 15,9: 16,26; 32; 40; 64; 86: 20,35: 25,21: 27,42; 47 
52: 34, 67. Cf. C. P. Clark, Numerical Phraseology in Vergil (Princeton 
University Dissertation, Princeton, 1913). 



120 STUDIES IN MAGIC FKOM LATIN LITERATURE 

as rapidly as possible while he witnessed the fall of a meteor. 284 
At other times we feel the mysterious sympathetic power of 
the number three without being able to trace clearly the asso- 
ciation of ideas which underlay the popular belief. It was not 
without some reason of this kind that persons were enjoined 
to touch their eyes three times with the water left over after 
washing their feet in order to avert all eye diseases. 285 It is 
difficult, also, to explain why toothache was thought to be 
prevented by washing one's teeth thrice annually with tortoise 
blood; 286 or why three cherry stones should be used as a medical 
amulet, 287 unless there was believed to exist some indefinable 
sympathia between the number three and the prevention of 
disease. Nor are other odd numbers without a similar magic 
power; for we read of the wonderful prophylactic powers of 
a thread that is tied in seven or nine knots, 288 and of a certain 
medical amulet that is to be perfected in five or seven days. 289 

(h) Sympathia of Purity. — Greater power, according to 
Roman popular belief, resided in an amulet that was prepared 
by pure hands. 290 It was doubtless on this account that certain 
amulets had to be made or applied by pueri impubes. 291 To a 
similar desire of avoiding contamination may be attributed, 
perhaps, the often repeated injunction that neither the amulet 
nor its constituent parts should touch the earth. 292 It is a fair 

284 Marcellus Empiricus, 8, 55 (supra, 106-107). 

285 Pliny, N. H. 28, 44 (supra, 106). 286 Pliny, N. H. 32, 37 (supra, 107). 

287 Marcellus Empiricus, 8, 27 (supra, 84). 

288 Pliny, N. H. 28, 48 (supra, 89). ' 

289 Marcellus Empiricus, 8, 49 (supra, 85). 

290 Marcellus Empiricus, 8, 49 (supra, 85); 58 (supra, 85); 59 
(supra, 86). 

291 Pliny, N. H. 23, 130 (supra, 91). That boys, on account of their 
purity, were considered of great service in magic we may conclude from 
Apuleius, Apol. 42; Spartianus, Did. Iul. 7, 10; Pliny, N. H. 28, 41. 

292 Pliny, N. H. 23, 163 (supra, 88) : 27, 89 (supra, 87) : 28, 41 (supra, 
89). This injunction is very common in other fields of magic also. That 
the earth was looked upon as a contaminating substance seems clear 



MAGIC AND THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE 121 

inference, also, that the direction to prepare amulets with 
implements of reed, 293 copper, or glass 294 was but another way 
of forbidding the polluting touch of iron. 

(i) Sympathetic Incantamenta. — Finally, the element of 
sympathia may at times appear in the incantamenta which 
frequently accompany the use of amulets in preventive medi- 
cine. We have shown, 295 for instance, how swellings in the 
groin were believed to be prevented by the inhibiting power of 
a knotted string, each knot of which was tied in the name of a 
certain widow. We can readily understand how the knots in 
the string were supposed to hold in check any tendency toward 
swelling in the groin, but we should be at a loss to know why 
each knot must have pronounced over it the name of a widow, 
were it not for a passage in Marcellus Empiricus. The latter 
author tells us, 296 that the widows whose names were thus used 
in the incantamentum, while the knots were being tied in the 
string, must be anus viduae. In other words, the incanta- 
mentum was to be composed of the names of those whose 
abdomens would never again be swollen in pregnancy, in order 
to insure that the abdomen of him who wore the amulet would 
not swell with disease. Likewise, in using bored cherry stones 
as an amulet 297 to prevent pains in the eyes, the wearer of the 
amulet must utter a vow not to eat any cherries during the 
year within which the amulet was to be effective; because, 

from Marcellus Empiricus, 29, 35. There we are told that a certain cura- 
tive amulet is to come into contact neither with the earth nor with any 
woman. The well established fact of the ceremonial impurity of women 
may be taken as proof that the earth is to be placed in the same category. 

293 Marcellus Empiricus, 1, 85. 

294 Marcellus Empiricus, 8, 49-50 (supra, 85). In this instance the 
main operation employs glass and copper, but the use of iron is allowed 
in a detail of secondary importance. For the taboo on iron in Roman 
medical magic, see supra, 73, n. 42. 

295 Pliny, N. H. 28, 48 (supra, 89). 

296 32, 19 (supra, 89). 

297 Marcellus Empiricus, 8, 27 (supra, 84). 



122 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

forsooth, to eat cherries would be equivalent to eating his own 
eyes, and in this way the sympathetic power of the amulet would 
be destroyed. 298 

(j) The Source of the Sympathia often Obscure. — The asso- 
ciation of ideas involved in sympathia is often obscure. We 
feel reasonably sure, for example, when we read of a remedy for 
lippitudo, of which the principal ingredient is a powder made 
from the heads of young swallows, whose eyes have been put 
out during the full moon, and whose sight has subsequently 
returned, that we are dealing with a purely sympathetic cure. 
Accordingly, when we read in the same paragraph 2 " that 
one who has eaten a young stork, or has a dragon about his 
person will be protected from the same disease for many years 
thereafter, we cannot escape the conclusion that there must 
be some kind of sympathia between young storks and dragons, 
and diseases of the eye. Probably storks and dragons were 
credited with unusually keen sight and eyes free from disease. 
We may speculate in like manner over the belief that one could 
be protected from quinsy for a year by the simple precaution 
of eating the young of a swallow. 300 Just what the association 
of ideas was in the latter case we can not surely say ; but it 
seems likely that the deeply cleft bill of the swallow, and its 
comparatively large throat, so useful in the capture of insects, 
led to the belief that it was free from all throat affections, and 
that consequently it was useful as a preventive of quinsy. 

In fact, when we consider that the person who to-day resorts 
to sympathetic magic in the cure or prevention of disease is 
usually entirely unaware of the association of ideas underlying 
his act, we may be quite certain that the average Roman who 

298 Certain inscriptions that appear on amulets are not essentially dif- 
ferent from sympathetic incantamenta; cf. Marcellus Empiricus, 8, 58 
(supra, 85). 

299 Pliny, N. H. 29, 128 (supra, 86; 106). 

300 Celsus, Med. 4, 7; Pliny, N. H. 30, 33 (supra, 107). 



MAGIC AND THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE 123 

practiced similar acts was equally unaware of the fundamental 
ideas underlying his acts. It is, then, not difficult to under- 
stand why, after the lapse of centuries and the various changes 
in the modes of civilized thought, it has become almost im- 
possible to arrive at a complete understanding of the principle 
of sympathia as it operated among the ancient Italians in the 
field of prophylactic magic. 301 It seems reasonable to conclude, 
however, from the preponderating importance of the idea of 
sympathia in all the cases where we can trace the association 
of ideas, that practically all the prophylactic magic of the 
Romans was based upon this principle. 302 

301 Much valuable light could doubtless be thrown upon this subject 
by one who had the leisure to live with Italian peasants for a number of 
years, and the knack of eliciting from them their secret thoughts regard- 
ing such matters. Such a work has been done for Etruria by Leland 
(Eirusc. Rom. Rem.), and the result is both interesting and profitable. 

302 The author regrets that the necessary limits placed upon the length 
of a doctoral dissertation force him to end the discussion of Roman magic 
at this point. He hopes soon to be able to publish additional chapters 
upon curative and causative medical magic among the Romans, together 
with other chapters upon Roman magic which seem to him to be of unusual 
interest not only to the classical scholar, but to the anthropologist, and 
to the large number of people who are interested in the strange beliefs 
and practices of a bygone age. 



SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX 1 

Baring-Gould, S. The Book of Were-Wolves (London, 1865). 
Blumler, Martin Frederick. A History of Amulets (Halle, 1710. 

English translation by S. H., Gent., privately printed, Edinburgh, 

1887). 
Bouche-Leclercq, A. Histoire de la divination dans Vantiquite 

(Paris, 1879). 
Bruns, Carolus Georgius. Fontes luris Romani Antiqui 1 

(Tubingen, 1909). 
Companion to Latin Studies 2 (edited by Sir John Edwin Sandys, 

Cambridge, 1913). 
Cumont, Franz. Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism (Chicago, 

1911). 
Del Rio, Martinus. Disquisitionum Magicarum Libri Sex (Coloniae 

Agrippinae, MDCLXXIX). 
Dieterich, Albrecht. Abraxas (Leipzig, 1891). 

Papyrus Magica Musei Lugdunensis Batavi (Leipzig, 1888). 

Dill, Samuel. Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius (London, 

1905). 
Elworthy, Frederick Thomas. The Evil Eye (London, 1895). 
Ennemoser, Joseph. The History of Magic (English translation, 

London, 1893). 
Fahz, Ludovicus. De Poetarum Romanorum Doctrina Magica (dis- 
sertation, Giessen, 1904). 
Foster, Walter Eugene. Studies in Archaism in Aulus Gellius 

(Columbia University dissertation, New York, 1912). 
Fowler, W. Warde. The Religious Experience of the Roman People 

from the Earliest Times to the Age of Augustus (London, 1911). 
The Roman Festivals of the Period of the Republic (London, 1908). 

1 Books and articles to which reference has been made only once or 
twice in this dissertation have not been included in this index. In all 
such cases, however, the full title of the book or article will be found in 
the footnote to the citation. 



126 STUDIES IN MAGIC FROM LATIN LITERATURE 

Frazer, J. G. The Golden Bough* (London, 1913-1914). 
Friedlaender, Ludwig. Petronii Cena Trimalchionis 2 (Leipzig, 

1906). 
Grimm, Jacob. Kleiner e Schriften: Abhandlungen zur Mythologie 

und Sittenkunde (Berlin, 1865). 
Hazlitt, W. Carew. Faiths and Folklore: a Dictionary of National 

Beliefs, Superstitions, and Popular Customs, etc. (London, 1905). 
Heim, Ricardus. Incantamenta Magica Graeca Latina (Jahrbticher 

fur Classische Philologie, neunzehnter Supplementband, 463-576 

[Leipzig, 1893]). 
Hertz, Wilhelm. Der Werwolf (Stuttgart, 1862). 
Huvelin, P. La notion de V "injuria" dans le tres ancien droit romain 

(in Annales de Tuniversite de Lyons [1903], 407-412). 
Les Tablettes magiques et le droit romain (in Annales du congres 

international d'histoire compared [Paris, 1902], 2, 15-81). 
Jahn, Otto. Uber den Aberglauben des bosen Blicks bei den Alten 

(in Berichte uber die Verhandlungen der koniglich-Sachsischen 

Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig; Philologisch-His- 

torische Classe [Leipzig, 1855], 28-110). 
Jevons, F. B. An Introduction to the History of Religion (London, 

1910). 
Kiesewetter, Karl. Der Occultismus des Altertums (Leipzig, 1896). 
Kroll, Wilhelm. Antiker Aberglaube (Hamburg, 1897). 
Kropatscheck, Gerhardus. De Amuletorum apud Antiquos Usu 

Capita Duo (dissertation, Gryphiae, 1907). 
Lang, Andrew. Magic and Religion (London, 1901). 
Leland, Charles Godfrey. Etruscan Roman Remains in Popular 

Tradition (London, 1892). 
Magnus, Hugo. Superstition in Medicine (English translation by 

Dr. Julius L. Salinger, New York, 1905). 
Marquardt, Joachim. Romische Staatsverwaltung 2 (edited by Georg 

Wissowa, Leipzig, 1885). 
Marett, R. R. The Threshold of Religion 1 (London, 1914). 
Maury, Alfred. La magie et Vastrologie dans Vantiquite et au moyen 

age" (Paris, 1877). 
Nicolson, Frank W. The Saliva Superstition in Classical Literature 

(Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, 8 [1897], 23-40). 
Ogle, M. B. The House-Door in Greek and Roman Religion and Folk- 

Lore (A. J. P. 42 [1911], 251-271). 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX 127 

Oliphant, Samuel Grant. The Story of the Strix: Ancient (Transac- 
tions of the American Philological Association, 44 [1913], 133-149. 
45 [1914], 49-63). 

Peck, Harry Thurston. Trimalchio's Dinner (New York, 1899). 

Piechotta, Johannes. Ein Anecdotum Latinum (Jahresbericht des 
koniglichen katholischen Gymnasiums zu Leobschutz, liber das 
Schuljahr 1886-1887, 1-XIII). 

Purser, L. C. The Story of Cupid and Psyche as Related by Apuleius 
(London, 1910). 

Reinach, Salomon. Orpheus: A General History of Religions (English 
translation by Florence Simmonds, New York, 1909). 

Roscher, W. H. Ausfilhrliches Lexikon der Griechischen und Romischen 
Mythologie (Leipzig, 1884- ). 

Schmeisser, G. Quaestionum de Etrusca Disciplina Particula (dis- 
sertation, Breslau, 1872). 

Smith, Kirby Flower. An Historical Study of The Werwolf in 
Literature (Publications of the Modern Language Association of 
America, 9, 1, 1-42 [Baltimore, 1894]). 

Story, William Wetmore. Castle St, Angelo and the Evil Eye (Lon- 
don, 1877). 

Teuffel, W. S. Geschichte der Romischen Literatur 6 (Leipzig, 1910- ) . 

Thesaurus Linguae Latinae (Leipzig, 1904- ). 

Thorndike, Lynn. The Place of Magic in the Intellectual History of 
Europe (Columbia University dissertation, New York, 1905). 

A Roman Astrologer as a Historical Source: Julius Firmicus 

Maternus (Classical Philology, 8 [1913], 415-435). 

Tylor, Edward B. Primitive Culture (third American edition, 
New York, 1889). 

Weidlich, Theodor. Die Sympathie in der Antiken Litteratur (Pro- 
gramm des Karls-Gymnasiums in Stuttgart [1894]). 

Welcker, F. G. Kleine Schriften zu den Alterthumern der Heilkunde 
bei den Griechen, Griechische Inschriften, zur alien Kunstgeschichte 
(Bonn, 1850). 

Wissowa, Georg. Religion und Kultus der Romer 2 (Miinchen, 1912. 
Vol. V, part IV of Muller's Handbuch der Klassischen Altertums- 
wissenschaft). 



INDEX RERUM 



Abdomen, amulets attached to, 
102-103. 

Absinth as an amulet, 91. 

Adversus Astrologos. work of Colu- 
mella, 18. 

Aeaea, home of Circe, 24. 

Aesculapius resorts to magic, 65. 

Agricultural writers, attitude of, 
toward magic, 26-28. 

Agrippa expels magicians and as- 
trologers from Rome, 14. 

Amber as an amulet, 92. 

Ammianus Marcellinus, attitude of, 
toward magic, 53; 76. 

Amulets, 52; 53; 57; 59; 76-105: 
antiquity and continued use of, 
80-83: colors of containers, 104r- 
105; 116: not confined to objects 
suspended from the neck, 78: 
definition of, 77-78: details in 
preparation of, 101 (cf. Days, 
Odd numbers, Purity, Sunrise, 
Three as a magic number): ety- 
mology of the Latin word amu- 
letum, 77: inscriptions on, 100- 
101: invention of, 80: materials 
of, 96-100; 103-104: names given 
to, 79 and n. 75:. used by phy- 
sicians, 82: where worn, 102-103. 

Angerona as a dea, 68, n. 27. 

Angitia, sister of Circe, 66, n. 19. 

Ariimals, use of, in magic (see Asp, 
Bat, Bones, Bubo, Bug, Cat, 
Chameleon, Colt, Crocodile, Deer, 
Doe, Dog, Dolphin, Dragon, Fly, 
Fox, Gazelle, Goat, Hare, Hip- 



pomanes, Hog, Hyena, Lizard, 
Osprey, Shrew Mouse, Snail, 
Stork, Swallow, Tortoise, Viper, 
Wolf, and Worm). 

Anise, twig of, as amulet, 89. 

Antipathia, 95 (cf. Sympathia). 

Apollonius of Tyana, 44. 

Apuleius, Apologia of, the most 
complete Latin treatise on magic, 
19; 44-45: attitude of, toward 
magic, 32; 42-45: Metamorphoses 
of, dominated by magic, 42-44: 
publication date of Metamor- 
phoses of, 44, n. 238: mysticism 
of, 43-44: reputation of, as a 
magus, 42; 44—45. 

Arbutus, twig of, used in magic, 
64; 65. 

Artemisia used as an amulet, 91; 
117. 

Asclepiades, the physician, uses 
magic, 56; 73. 

Asp, head of, as amulet, 87; 114. 

Astrologers, assailed by Columella, 
18: by Minucius Felix, 18: de- 
fended by Julius Firmicus Mater- 
nus, 18-19: expelled from Italy, 
15: from Rome, 14: Nigidius 
Figulus, reputed an astrologer, 
17-18. 

Astrology, adds strength to magic, 
5: attitude of Cicero toward, 30: 
of Curtius Rufus, 50: of Favori- 
nus (apud A. Gellium), 55, n. 314: 
of Julius Capitolinus, Lampri- 
dius, Spartianus, 52, n. 293: of 



130 



INDEX RERUM 



Suetonius, 51-52: of Tacitus, 
50-51 : of Valerius Maximus, 54 
confused with magic, 15, n. 68 
distinguished from magic, 10-11 
practiced along with magic, 11 
14r-15: widespread belief in, 26. 

Attus Navius, 24; 49; 54. 

Augury condemned by Cicero, 30. 

Augustus orders occult books 
burned, 15. 

Babylon prominent in magic, 12. 
Baldness produced by magic, 72, 

n. 41. 
Bat, as an amulet, 78: as a magic 

ointment, 109; 111. 
Beans, use of, in magic, 37, n. 195; 

46, n. 248; 109; 112; 118. 
Behistun, inscription of, speaks of 

magi, 1, n. 4. 
Bibliographical Index, 125-127. 
Black as a magic color, 37, n. 195; 

39, n. 201* 94; 104-105. 
Blood, use of, in magic, 31; 110; 

111 (cf. Menstrual blood). 
Bones, set by magic, 71-72: used 

as amulets, 83, n. 101. 
Boy, entrails of, in magic, 53, n. 

298: tooth of, in magic, 89; 117: 

urine of, in magic, 109; 115: 

used as mediums in magic, 52, n. 

296; 91; 109; 120, n. 291. 
Britain, magic in, 22. 
Bubo, 57; 94. 
Bug, as amulet, 93. 
Bulla, 25; 80-81. 

Caesar, attitude of, toward magic, 

47-48. 
Cancer prevented by magic, 108. 
Caracalla punishes believers in 

magic, 83. 
Carmen (see Incantamenta) . 



Carna resorts to magic, 63-65. 

Carriage ride made safe by magic, 
47. 

Cat, excrement of, as amulet, 94. 

Cato, attitude of, toward magic, 
26-27: prefers Italian folk medi- 
cine to Greek science, 73. 

Catullus, attitude of, toward magic, 
33-34. 

Celsus endorses medical magic, 73. 

Cemeteries as places of magic, 39. 

Ceres resorts to magic, 65. 

Chalazophylaces (hail guards) at 
Cleonae, 31. 

Chameleon used as an amulet, 91; 
116. 

Cherry seeds used as an amulet, 84; 
115; 120; 121-122. 

Christian Emperors, prosecutions 
for magic under, 53; 83. 

Christian miracles distinguished 
from magic tricks, 6-7. 

Christus, name used in spells, 69, 
n. 30. 

Cicero, attitude of, toward magic, 
30: skeptical of divination, 18; 
24, n. 123. 

Circaea arva, 24, n. 118. 

Circe, herb named after, 24, n. 116: 
inhabits Italy, 24; 28: power of, 
based on knowledge of herbs, 8, 
n. 38; 24, n. 116: practices medi- 
cal magic, 65-66: progenitrix of 
Marsi, 24, n. 118; worshiped at 
Circeii, 24, n. 118; 66, n. 19. 

Circle effective in magic, 58. 

Circumscription in preparation of 
amulets, 95. 

Cleonae, hail averters of, 31. 

Climacteric frequently fatal, 56, n. 
317. 

Colic prevented by amulets, 88; 
115. 



INDEX RERUM 



131 



Colt, milk teeth of, as amulet, 92; 
116. 

Columella, attitude of, toward 
magic, 27-28. 

Communio, 6. 

Contagio, 30. 

Contra Mathematicos, work by 
Minucius Felix, 18. 

Coral used as an amulet, 92. 

Cornelius Hispallus expels astrolo- 
gers from Rome, 14. 

Cough prevented by amulet, 87. 

Countercharm, 59. 

Crocodile, heart of, used as amulet, 
94; 117. 

Crops, control of, by magic, 57: 
growth of, influenced by the 
moon, 27: protected by magic, 
16: transferred by magic, 13-14. 

Crossing of knees in magic, 62-63 
(cf. Interlocking of fingers). 

Cummin used as an amulet, 94. 

Cunina, averter of the evil eye, 25; 
46. 

Curtius Rufus, attitude of, toward 
magic, 49-50. 

Cyclamen used as an amulet, 82. 

Cyprian magic, 21. 

Aal/jioves invoked in yorjrda and 
ixayela, 3-4; 6, n. 29; 7. 

Darkness, fear of, prevented by 
amulets, 92-93; 116. 

Days, certain ones, favorable to 
magic, 85; 86; 106; 109; 118- 
119. 

Deer, genitals of, used as amulet, 
90: skin of, used as amulet con- 
tainer, 90: tendons of, used to 
attach amulet, 93. 

Delatores spy out magic, 53. 

Delivery, painful, prevented by 
use of amulet, 91; 116. 



Democritus a student of magic, 20 

and n. 101; 21; 56. 
Devotio, 51, n. 282. 
Diana addressed in magic, 38, n. 

199: resorts to magic, 65. 
Didius Julianus, belief of, in magic, 

52, n. 296. 
Digitus medicinalis used in prophy- 
lactic magic, 108. 
Digitus obscoenus, 107. 
Disease, prevention of, by magic, 

61-123. 
Diseases, deification of, 67-69. 
Diurnal fever prevented by use of 

amulet, 104-105. 
Divination ridiculed, 27; 30. 
Doe, stone found in excreta, heart, 

or womb of, used as an amulet, 

90. 
Dog, gall bladder of male, used as 

an amulet, 78: tooth of, so used, 

93. 
Dolphin, tooth of, used as amulet, 

93. 
Dragon, head of, used as amulet, 

86; 114; 122: tail of, so used, 93. 
Dramatic writers, attitude of, 

toward magic, 28-29. 
Dream seers condemned, 30. 

Earth not to be touched in prepar- 
ing amulets, 87; 88; 89; 120, n. 
292. 

Eclipses explained rationally, 30. 

Egypt prominent in magic, 12. 

Empedocles, a student of magic, 20. 

Emperors, two, practice magic, 53. 

Encyclopaedists, attitude of, toward 
magic, 54-59. 

'E<t>e<rict ypd/xfiara (unintelligible 
words) in magic incantations, 
71-72; 85; 86; 87; 88; 100 and 
n. 181. 



132 



INDEX RERUM 



Epilepsy, cured by spitting on 
afflicted person, 71 : prevented by 
magic, 58, n. 349; 93; 108; 115. 

Evil eye, averted, 33; 35; 46 and 
n. 247; 58, n. 349; 80: believed 
in, 33; 57: feared, 39: stories of, 
apologized for by A. Gellius, 55. 

Evocation of spirits (see Spirits 
controlled). 

Evocationes morborum, 68. 

Excreta, of cat, used as amulet, 94: 
human, so used, 88 (cf. Doe). 

Eye, diseases of, prevented by amu- 
lets, 84-87; 116: by other 
magic means, 106-107; 120. 

Eye, pains in, prevented by use of 
amulets, 84-85; 115; 121. 

Fascinum, or membrum virile used 

as amulet, 46, n. 247. 
Fasting in medical magic, 89; 109. 
Feet, pain in the, cured by magic, 

72. 
Female troubles prevented by 

magic, 89-91. 
Fever, shrines set up to, 67 and n. 

26: Humeri of, revered, 67. 
Fevers prevented by use of amulets, 

93-94; 117: by other magic 

means, 110; 118. 
Fingers, bound together as an 

amulet, 86-87; 118: interlocked 

in magic, 62-63. 
Fire-walking, 28, n. 147; 57, n. 338. 
Flamen Dialis, taboos surrounding, 

25; 54^55; 81. 
Fly used as amulet, 86. 
Fox, tongue of, used as amulet, 86. 
Frontinus, attitude of, toward 

magic, 53-54. 

Gazelle, skin of, used as amulet 
container, 90; 93. 



A. Gellius, attitude of, toward 

magic, 54-56. 
Gems in magic, 57; 59. 
Germanicus believed to have been 

killed by means of magic, 51. 
Ghosts, not believed in by Cicero, 

30: fear of, prevented by amulet, 

93; 116. 
Goat, brain of, used in prophylac- 
tic magic, 108; 111; 115. 
Gods, aid of, used in magic, 5: 

controlled by magic, 6-7; 12; 

42: evoked by magic from hostile 

cities, 49: as workers of magic, 

61-66. 
Yorjrda distinguished from nayeia, 

3-4. 
Goitre prevented by amulets, 87; 

114. 
Gold, efficacy of, in magic, 85, n. 

105; 104; 108. 
Golden Bough, the, 28. 
Good luck days, 41. 
Grape used in prophylactic magic, 

108; 112. 
Greece, reputed source of Italian 

magic, 17. 
Greeks, medical magic among the 

early, 70. 
Groin, diseases of the, prevented 

by use of amulets, 88-89; 116- 

117; 121. 

Hail averted, 31; 57 (cf. Nature 
controlled) . 

Hare, ankle bone of, used as amu- 
let in preventive medicine, 87-88 : 
foot of, used as amulet in curative 
medicine, 87, n. 114. 

Headache prevented by amulets, 
84; 113-114. 

Heart, representation of, inside the 
bulla, 80. 



INDEX RERUM 



133 



Hecate addressed in magic, 39, n. 

201. 
Heliotrope in magic prophylaxis, 

109; 112. 
Herba impia eaten to prevent 

quinsy, 107; 112. 
Hercules, birth of, prevented by 

magic, 62-63. 
Hiera botane used as amulet, 95: 

as a magic ointment, 110; 112. 
Hippomanes as an ingredient of a 

philter, 40, n. 211. 
Hirpini, fire-walkers, 28. 
Historians, attitude of, toward 

magic, 45-54. 
Hog, bladder of, used as amulet, 88; 

114. 
Horace, attitude of, toward magic, 

36; 38-39. 
Human beings buried alive in magic, 

38, n. 199. 
Human corpses, parts of, in magic, 

51, n. 282; 53, n. 298. 
Human sacrifice, a part of Roman 

magic, 14; 21; 38; 52, n. 296. 
Hyena, flesh and hairs of, as amulet, 
90: heart of, as amulet, 94: left 
forefoot, right breast, and tooth 
of, as amulet, 93. 

Iliad comparatively free from magic, 

19. 
Images used in magic, 9-10 and n. 

43; 38-39. 
Incantamenta, 6; 12; 13-14; 22; 

26-27; 31; 34; .36; 37, n. 195; 

39; 40, n. 211; 47; 51, n. 282; 

52, n. 296; 53, n. 301; 55, n. 
315; 58 and n. 350; 62-63; 70; 
71-72; 76, n. 56; 84; 89; 90; 
101; 107 (cf. 'E0«ria ypanfiara): 
sympathetic incantamenta, 121- 
122. 



Incubo, cap of, snatched for good 

luck, 41. 
Indigestion prevented by magic, 

109; 118. 
Infants' diseases prevented by use 

of amulets, 92: by other magic 

means, 108. 
Inscriptions on medical amulets, 

100-101; 116; 122, n. 298. 
Interlocking of fingers in magic, 

62-63. 
Iron, taboo on, 58; 72-73; 85, n. 

105; 88; 120-121. 
Isis participates in countermagic, 

43. 

Jacob, name used in incantamenta^ 

69, n. 30. 
Jannes, a typical Jewish magician, 

21. 
Jesus, Apuleius the magician rival 

of, 44. 
Jewish magic, 21. 
Juno resorts to magic, 62-63. 
Jupiter drawn from heaven by 

magic, 48. 
Juvenal, attitude of, toward magic, 

40. 

Knees crossed in magic, 62-63. 
Knots as amulets, 89; 116-117; 
120; 121. 

Lake Avernus, water from, in 

magic, 38, n. 199. 
Lamb sacrificed to avert hail, 31. 
Lamella of gold, inscribed, as 

amulet, 86. 
Lampridius, attitude of, toward 

magic, 53. 
Lares, bulla dedicated to, 81, n. 87. 
Latin authors, attitude of, toward 

magic, 25-60. 



134 



INDEX RERUM 



Left arm, amulets attached to, 93; 
94; 102 and n. 188. 

Left hand specified in preparation 
of amulets, 91; 95: in prepara- 
tion of other means of prophy- 
laxis, 106; 108. 

Legal aspect of magic and religion, 
12-17. 

Lemur es expelled by strange rites, 
25; 37, n. 195; 46. 

Lenae, as a class, skilled in magic, 
34; 35 and n. 186. 

Leprosy prevented by magic, 108. 

C. Licinius Mucianus, a believer in 
amulets, 82. 

IAdum in magic, 39, n. 201; 85; 
89; 103. 

Lightning controlled by magic, 57 
(cf. Nature controlled). 

Lippitudo, amulet used to prevent, 
82; 85-87; 104; 114; 118: other 
means of preventing, 106-107; 
122. 

Livy, attitude of, toward magic, 
48-49: prodigia in, 48. 

Lizard, as amulet, 85; 88; 91; 114: 
inside of bulla, 80; 114: used in 
prophylactic magic apart from 
amulets, 109; 111. 

Looking behind one forbidden in 
magic, 37, n. 195; 64 and n. 12; 
65. 

Loom, thread from, in amulets, 
89. 

Lotapes, a typical Jewish magician, 
21. 

Love charms spoken of metaphori- 
cally, 34r-35. 

Love controlled, 33; 34; 35. 

Lucan, attitude of, toward magic, 
31-32. 

Lucilius, attitude of, toward magic, 
37-38. 



Lucretius, attitude of, toward magic, 

29-30. 
Lyric and elegiac poets, attitude of, 

toward magic, 33-37. 

Macedonian magic, 21. 

Mayela distinguished from yorjTeia, 
3-4: meaning of word, 3-4: not 
found in Homer, 1. 

Magia never used of Magian phi- 
losophy, but of magic, 4-5. 

Magic, borrows strength from astrol- 
ogy* 5-7: confused with astrol- 
ogy, 15, n. 68: distinguished 
from astrology, 10-11: practiced 
along with astrology, 14-15: 
belief in, characteristic of many 
Latin authors, 17 (see in this 
Index the names of the vari- 
ous Latin authors for their re- 
spective attitudes toward magic) : 
and curative medicine, Pref.; 
16; 49; 50-51; 52-53; 55, n. 
315; 56; 57; 58, n. 349: defi- 
nition of, 5-8: distinguished from 
Christian miracles, 6-7: extant 
Latin treatises on, 19: forbidden 
by the Twelve Tables (cf . Magic 
illegal): gods controlled by, 12: 
theory of Greek origin of Ital- 
ian, untenable, 22-23: growth 
of, as an element in Latin litera- 
ture, 43^44: gruesome details in, 
38, n. 199; 39, n. 201: harmless 
kind of, not condemned, but 
popular, 16-17: illegal, 12-16: 
sprung from medicine, 5-7: native 
to Italy, 16-17; 22-25: passive 
believers in, executed, 15: theory 
of Persian origin of Italian, 
untenable, 22-23: prophylactic, 
among the Romans, Pref. ; 61-123, 
especially 76-123: purity in, 38, 



INDEX RERUM 



135 



n. 199: and religion, 5; 11-17: 
distinguished from religion, 11- 
12: legal aspect of magic and 
religion, 12-17: mingled with 
religion, 31; 51; 54; 58, nn. 
349, 350; 66: more powerful 
than religion, 17; 32; 63: op- 
posed by religion, 12; 15; 17; 
29: prior to religion, 61-62: 
survival of, in religion, 24-25; 
37 and n. 195; 40; 46 and nn. 
247, 248, 251; 48-49 (cf. Medical 
magic and religion): antedates 
science, 8; 10; 17: distinguished 
from science, 8-10 : more popular 
than science, 10; 25: secret, 
12-13; 16: source, antiquity, and 
prevalence of Italian, 19-25: 
stories of, generally accepted, 41; 
43: distinguished from super- 
stition, 11. 
Magicians, confused with natural 
philosophers, 10; 45, n. 243: 
expelled from Italy, 15; 51: 
from Rome, 14. 
Magicus seldom used of Magian 

philosophy, but of magic. 5. 
May ot, become known as trick- 
sters and sorcerers, 2-3: deri- 
vation of word, 1: expert in 
astrology, 2: and divination, 2: 
word first found in Herodotus, 
1: jjiayoi, ignorant of yortreia, 2: 
introduction of, into Greece, 2: 
leaders in royal education, 1: 
meaning of word, 1-3: not 
found in Homer, 1: originally a 
priestly caste, 1. 
Magus, name applied both to Magi 
and to magicians, 4-5; 50, n. 
275: magorum commenta, 74-75: 
of great influence in popular 
medicine, 82; 108; 109; 110: 



offspring of mother and son, 33: 
philosophic versus popular use of 
word, 5: reputation of Apuleius 
as a magus, 42; 44-45. 

Malachite used as amulet, 92. 

Marcellus Empiricus, attitude of, 
toward magic, 76. 

Marruvian priest, in Aeneid, an 
adept in magic, 28. 

Marsi, descendants of Circe, 24, 
n. 118: magic powers of, 55; 65. 

Martial, attitude of, toward magic, 
37. 

Massylii, priestess of, an adept in 
magic, 28. 

Mathematici (see Astrologers). 

Medea, power of, based upon 
knowledge of herbs, 8, n. 38. 

Medical magic, endorsed by Pliny, 
74^75 : more powerful than scien- 
tific medicine, 75: not displaced 
by Greek medicine, 73-76: prac- 
ticed by early Greeks, 70: by 
physicians at Rome, 73; 76, n. 
56: and religion, 61-69: uni- 
versal among early Romans, 70- 
73: Versus scientific medicine, 
70-76. 

Medical writers, attitude of, toward 
magic, 60. 

Medicine, the source of magic, 5: 
later than magic, 8. 

Mefitis as a dea, 68, n. 27. 
Membrum virile, of dog, as amulet, 
78: of man, representation of, 
inside bulla, 80. (Cf . Fascinum) . 
Menstrual blood in magic, 58. 
Metamorphoses, 42 (see also Apu- 
leius; Werwolf). 
Midnight the time of magic, 37, 

n. 195. 
Milk of mother and daughter as 
magic ointment, 106; 110; 112. 



136 



INDEX RERUM 



Minucius Felix, attitude of, toward 

magic, 18. 
Mirrors in magic, 52, n. 296. 
Miscarriage prevented, 90; 115. 
Months, certain, favorable to 

magic, 85; 86; 106; 118-119. 
Moon, control of, by magic, 37, n. 

196; 38, n. 199; 40, n. 211 (cf. 

Nature controlled)', phases of, in 

magic, 27; 48, n. 258; 57-58; 

86. 
Moses, a typical Jewish magician, 

21. 
Mouse ear used as magic ointment, 

106; 112; 118. 
Myrtle, twig of, as amulet, 88; 89. 
Mysticism, growth of, in Roman 

popular taste, 43-44. 

Nail driven to control pestilence, 

49; 66. 
Natural philosophers often called 

magi, 10; 45, n. 243. 
Nature controlled by magic, 6-7; 

12; 16; 32; 34; 41 (cf. Hail 

averted, Lightning, Moon, Rain, 

and Stars). 
Neck, amulets suspended from, 102 : 

pains in, prevented by magic 

ointment, 108. 
Necromancy condemned, 30. 
Nero attempts to control the gods 

by magic, 12. 
Night addressed in magic, 38, n. 

199. 
P. Nigidius Figulus, attitude of, 

toward magic, 17-18. 
Nocturnal fever prevented by use 

of amulet, 104^105. 
Nudity in magic, 39, n. 201; 40. 
Numa, Jupiter drawn from heaven 

by, through magic, 48. 



Occentare equivalent to incantare, 

14, n. 57. 
Occult, books on, destroyed by 

Augustus, 15. 
Odd numbers in magic, 58; 85; 

89; 94; 107; 119 and n. 283; 

120. 
Odysseus, wound of, stanched by 

incantation, 70. 
Odyssey built on magic episodes, 

20. 
Ointments in magic, 42; 110. 
Old women in magic, 34; 38-39; 

89. 
Osprey, intestine of, used as amu- 
let, 88; 115. 
Osthanes, author of earliest work 

on magic, 20: introduces magic 

into Greece, 2; 20; 22. 
Ovid, attitude of, toward magic, 

36-37. 

Parchment, inscribed virgin, used 
as amulet, 85; 86; 87. 

Parsnip, used as amulet, 95-96: 
eaten in prophylactic magic, 96; 
112. 

Pennyroyal used as amulet, 89. 

Persia, the reputed source of Italian 
magic, 17. 

Persius, attitude of, toward magic, 
39-40. 

Petronius, attitude of, toward 
magic, 40-42. 

Philosophers, attitude of the, to- 
ward magic, 29-32. 

Philters, 38; 40, n. 211. 

Phylacterium, a term applied to 
amulets, 79. 

Physicians use amulets, 82; 83. 

Sextus Placitus Papyriensis, atti- 
tude of, toward magic, 76. 

Plantain used as amulet, 91; 117. 



INDEX RERUM 



137 



Plants used in magic, 8 and n. 38; 
24, n. 116; 38, n. 199; 39, n. 201; 
57; 59 (cf. Absinth, Arbutus, 
Artemisia, Cherry seeds, Cummin, 
Cyclamen, Grape, Heliotrope, Her- 
ba impia, Hiera botane, Parsnip, 
Pennyroyal, Plantain, Pomegran- 
ate, Poplar, Sideritis latifolia, Tri- 
folium acutum, Vervain, Vitex, 
Whitethorn, Wild fig tree, Wild 
grape, Woodland sorrel). 

Plato, a student of magic, 21. 

Plautus, attitude of, toward magic, 
28-29. 

Pliny the Elder, attitude of, toward 
magic, 17; 21-22; 56-59; 74r-75: 
extant treatise of, on Roman 
magic, 19. 

Poisonous animals, bites of, pre- 
vented by use of amulets, 95-96. 

Pomegranate, part of, eaten in 
magic prophylaxis, 106; 112. 

Poplar, twig of, used as amulet, 
91. 

Popular conception of a magus, 5. 

Praebia, name given to amulets, 79. 

Prayer and spell mingled, 66; 68- 
69. 

Preventive or prophylactic magic, 
76-123. 

Priests, early Italian, versed in 
medical magic, 66; 69. 

Prodigia, in Livy, 48: in Tacitus, 
50: in Valerius Maximus, 54: 
within the interpretative control 
of each individual, 57. 

Propertius, attitude of, toward 
magic, 35-36. 

Prophylactic magic among the 
Romans, Pref.; 61-123, espe- 
cially 76-123. 

Prose romance, attitude of writers 
of, toward magic, 40-45. 



Pseudo-Apuleius, attitude of, to- 
ward magic, 76. 

Pseudo-Pliny, attitude of, toward 
magic, 76. 

Psylli endowed with magic power, 
55. 

Puer impubis, urine of, used in 
magic ointment, 109; 111; 115: 
used as agent in preparing amu- 
let, 91; 120. 

Purity in magic, 38, n. 199; 86; 
120-121 (cf. Parchment, inscribed 
virgin, used as amulet: Puer im- 
pubis). 

Pythagoras, student of magic, 
20. 

Quartan fever, cured by magic, 52- 
53; 74; 82-83: prevented by 
use of amulets, 94: Roman 
medicine unable to cure, 94. 

Quinsy prevented by magic, 107; 
122. 

Rain controlled by magic, 40 (cf. 
Nature controlled). 

Red, use of, in magic, 93; 94; 104- 
105. 

Religion, adds strength to magic, 
5: defined by Cicero, 12: de- 
fined in modern terms, 16: 
distinguished from magic, 11-12: 
fostered by Roman thought and 
law, 12-13; 16 (cf. Magic and 
religion). 

Rhombus, use of, 35. 

Right foot, auspicious, 41. 

Rings as amulets, 81; 85; 114: in 
other medical magic, 108. 

Rural districts, home of Roman 
magic, 16-17; 22-23. 

Sabaoth, used in spells, 69, n. 30. 



138 



INDEX RERUM 



Saga, with meaning of witch, 34; 

38, n. 199; 42. 
Sallust, attitude of, toward magic, 

48. 
Satirists, attitude of, toward magic, 

37-40. 
Scabies as a dea, 68, n. 27. 
Scarab used as an amulet, 92. 
Scientific medicine displaces early- 
Roman magic, 70. 
Scriptores Historiae Augustae, atti- 
tude of, toward magic, 52-53. 
Secrecy, of magic (cf . Magic secret) : 

in preparation and application 

of amulets, 94. 
Senatus Consultum de Bacchanalibus, 

relation of, to magic, 14: Senatus 

Consultum of 97 B.C., relation 

of, to magic, 14. 
Seneca, attitude of, toward magic, 

30-31. 
Q. Serenus Sammonicus, attitude 

of, toward* magic, 76; 83. 
M. Servilius Nonianus, a believer 

in amulets, 82. 
Seven as a magic number, 46 (cf. 

Odd numbers in magic). 
Sex changed by magic, 55-56; 57. 
Sexual desire controlled by magic, 

41. 
Shooting star in the prevention of 

lippitudo, 106-107; 112; 119. 
Shrew mouse used as amulet, 95; 

115. 
Sideritis latifolia used as amulet, 91; 

117. 
Sieve, water carried in, by magic, 

58, n. 350. 
Similia similibus, 9-10; 39 and n. 

201; 58; 64 and n. 11; 65; 78; 

113-123. 
Skin, galling of, prevented by use 

of amulets, 91. 



Slaves, runaway, restrained by 

magic, 21-22; 58, n. 350. 
Snail, stone found in head of, 

used as amulet, 84; 113-114. 
Snake-bite prevented by magic, 58, 

n. 349; 95-96. 
Soothsayers condemned, 30. 
Spartianus, attitude of, toward 

magic, 52-53; 76. 
Spirits controlled by magic, 3-4; 

6-7; 12; 34; 37, n. 195; 42; 

51, n. 282. 
Spitting as an act of magic, Pref.; 

35; 40, n. 211; 41; 58; 71; 75; 

108. 
Spittle as a prophylactic ointment, 

106; 108; 110; 111. 
Sponge, stone taken from, used as 

amulet, 87. 
Spurius Albinus, conducts trial on 

charge of magic, 14. 
Stars, control of, by magic, 38, n. 

199; 42 (cf. Nature controlled). 
Stoics, attitude of, toward magic, 

30-32. 
Stomach and bowels, diseases of, 

prevented by use of amulets, 

87-88. 
Stones studied by magicians, 9 and 

n. 40. 
Stork, young of, eaten in magic 

prophylaxis, 106; 111; 122. 
Strigae, tales of, 41. 
Strix, assault of, 63-65: belief in, 

discredited, 57 and n. 326. 
Stumbling, ill luck of, 54. 
Suetonius, attitude of, toward magic, 

51-52. 
Suicide's rope, part of, used as 

amulet, 88. 
Sunrise, magic actions to be per- 
formed before, 90; 91; 94; 95; 

119. 



INDEX RERUM 



139 



Superstition distinguished from 
magic, 11. 

Swallow in medical magic, 84; 93; 
107; 111; 122. 

Sympathia, based on acts and 
positions, 117-118: on appear- 
ance of the amulet, 115-116: 
on growth and withering of the 
amulet, 117: on incantamenta, 
121-122: on natural qualities of 
the amulet material, 116-117: 
obscure, 122-123: based on odd 
numbers, 119-120: on purity, 
120-121: on seasons, 118-119: on 
source of the amulet, 113-115: 
basis of prophylactic magic, 9; 
113-123: Cicero's belief in, 30: 
essential to amulets, 78; 101- 
102; 105; 107-108; 113-123: 
Pliny's belief in, 58: Stoic belief 
in, 30. 

Taboo, in amulets, 77; 113: defi- 
nition of, 78, n. 65. 

Tacitus, attitude of, toward magic, 
50-51. 

Tartarus lighted up by magic, 42. 

Teeth not to be touched, 106; 108. 

Teething, troubles of, prevented by 
use of amulets, 92; 114-115; 
116. 

Telmessus, a center of magic, 20. 

Temple sleep, 65, n. 16. 

Terence, attitude of, toward magic, 
28-29. 

Tertian fever, cured by magic, 
52-53 : prevented by amulets, 94. 

Tetter prevented by magic, 108. 

Thessaly prominent in magic, 12; 
20 and n. 98; 22; 36, n. 193; 42. 

Three as a magic number, Pref.; 
37, n. 195; 47; 48, n. 259; 56, 
n. 317; 58 and n. 349; 64; 65; 



78; 84; 106; 107; 119, n. 283; 

120. 
Threshold in magic, 64 and n. 10; 

78. 
Throat, diseases of, prevented by 

amulets, 87. 
Throwing behind one in magic, 37, 

n. 195; 46, n. 248. 
Tibullus, attitude of, toward magic, 

34-35. 
Tisiphone addressed in magic, 39, 

n. 201. 
Toothache prevented by amulets, 

87: by other magic means, 107; 

118; 120. 
Tortoise, blood of, used in magic 

prophylaxis, 107; 111; 120. 
Treatises, formal Latin, upon occult 

subjects, 17-19. 
Trifolium acutum used as amulet, 

95. 
Tuccia carries water in a sieve, 21. 
Tullus Hostilius, victim of attempt 

at magic, 22; 48-49. 
Tumors prevented by amulets, 91; 

115-116; 117. 
Twelve Tables, Laws of, forbid 

magic (cf. Magic illegal): prove 

existence of early Roman magic, 

21-23. 

Unloosing in magic, 37, n. 195; 38, 
n. 199; 39, n. 201; 40; 106; 118. 

Urinary diseases prevented by amu- 
lets, 88; 114. 

Uvular complaints prevented by 
magic, 107-108. 

Valerius Maximus, attitude of, 

toward magic, 54. 
Vanish, power to, 57. 
Varicose veins prevented by magic, 

109. 



140 



INDEX RERUM 



Varro, attitude of, toward magic, 

27-28; 45-47. 
La vecchia religione, signifies magic 

in modern Tuscany, 17. 
Velleius Paterculus, attitude of, 

toward magic, 49. 
Vergil, attitude of, toward magic, 

28. 
Vervain used as amulet, 110, n. 

224; 118. 
Vespasian, magic cures wrought by, 

50-51. 
Vestal Virgins, magic power of, 21 ; 

25; 58, n. 350. 
Viper, head of, used as amulet, 87. 
Vitex, twig of, used as amulet, 91. 

Water, hands washed in pure, 37, 
n. 195: in which one's feet have 
been washed used as a magic oint- 
ment, 106; 112; 120: sprinkled 
in magic, 64; 65: used as magic 
wash for" teeth, 107; 110. 

Wax images used in magic, 9-10 
and n. 43; 39. 

Werwolf, belief in, discredited, 57: 
stories of, 40-41 and n. 214. 

White as a magic color, 86. 



Whitethorn in magic, 64; 65. 
Widows, names of, used in incan- 

tamenta, 89; 121. 
Wild fig tree, use of, as amulet, 91; 

115. 
Wild grape used as amulet, 82. 
Wolf, tooth of, used as amulet, 92; 

114-115. 
Women, ceremonial impurity of, 

121, n. 292. 
Woodland sorrel used as amulet, 

86. 
Wool, black, in magic, 94: of first 

clipping, 94: images of, 39: 

stolen, 93. 
Words, accidental identity of, as 

basis of sympathia, 116 (cf. 

Incantamenta) . 
Worm used as amulet, 87; 90; 117, 

n. 274. 
Wrapping cord used in amulets, 

89 (cf. Loom, thread from, in 

magic) . 
Wrinkles prevented by magic, 109; 

115. 

Zoroaster, founder of magic, 19; 22. 



INDEX LOCORUM 



Aelian 

De Nat. An. 2, 18 70, n. 34 

V. H. 12, 11 67, n. 26 

Aeschines 

In Ctes. 137 2, n. 11 

Aeschylus 

Agam. 1021-1022 70, n. 34 

Eumen. 648-650 70, n. 34 

Op. Incert. 24 

Ammianus Marcellinus 

16, 8, 2 53; 76 

19, 12, 14 53, n. 300; 76 

83, n. 102 
29, 2, 2-3 53 

29, 2, 28 53, n. 300 

Anecdotum Latinum 

77; 199; 200 69, n. 30 

Apuleius 
Apol. 25-26 1, n. 6; 4, n. 20; 5 
27 10; 44; 45, n. 243 

31 8, n. 38; 24, n. 116 

36 45, n. 242 

40 70, n. 34 

41 44, n. 239 

42 18, n. 87; 46; 120, n. 291 

43 45 
47 12-13 
66 44, n. 239 
71 44, n. 239 
90 20, n. 99; 21, n. 103; 

44, n. 239 
102 44, n. 239 

De Deo Socrat. 6 4 and n. 21 
7 24, n. 123 

24 8, n. 38; 24, n. 116 

Flor. 15 19, n. 96; 20, n. 100 



Met. 1, 1 
1,9-20 
1,20 
2,1 
2,5 

2, 21-30 

3, 15 

3, 16-18 
3,21 
3, 24-25 
6, 16 
6,26 
9, 29-31 
10,31 
11,1 

11, 6; 12, 13 
De Plat. 1, 3 



42 

42, n. 227 

43 

20, n. 98; 42 

4, n. 21 

42, n. 227 

12 

42, n. 227 

9, n. 39; 42 

42 

4, n. 21 

5, n. 22 
42, n. 227 

68, n. 27 
20, n. 100 
43 
l,n.6;4, n. 20; 
21, n. 102 
Aristotle 

apud Diogenem Laertium, 
Vit. Phil., Proem. 1 2, n. 9; 3 
Arnobius 

Adv. Gent. 1, 52 20, n. 99 

Augustine 

De Civ. Dei 3, 25 67, n. 26 

4, 11 68, n. 27 

4, 15 67, n. 26 

5, 3 18, n. 88 

6, 9 66, n. 21 

7, 21 46, n. 247 

7, 35 47, n. 252 

8, 16 4, n. 19 
8, 19 12,n.53; 13,n.56; 

42, n. 225 
10, 9 5, n. 22 

18, 17 46 



142 



INDEX LOCORUM 



De Divers. Quaest. 
79,4 4,n.21; 6; 16, n.76; 
29, n. 150 

Ep. 2, 6 42, n. 225; 44, n. 237 
136, 1 42, n. 225; 44, n. 237 
138, 18 42, n. 225; 44, n. 237 

Baring-Gould, S. 41, n. 214 

Blumner, M. F. 77, n. 61 

Boisacq, E. 1, n. 3 

Bouche-Leclercq, A. 15, n. 74 

Bruns, C. G. 13, n. 56; 14, n. 57 

Caecilius Medicus 90 and n. 121 
Caesar 

Bell. Civ. 3, 105 48, n. 257 

Bell. GaU. 1, 50 48, n. 258 

Cassius Dio 

45, 1, 3-5 18, n. 88 

49, 43, 5 14 

Cato 

Mem. Dicta 65 27 

apud Plin:, N. H. 26, 91 91 

29, 14 73 

R. R. 70 25; 26; 73, n. 42; 

119, n. 283 

71 25; 26; 73, n. 42 

83 25; 26 

159 25; 26 

160 25; 27; 71-72 
Catullus 

5, 10-13: 7, 11-12 33 

45, 8-9; 17-18 34, n. 177 

61, 206-210: 90, 3-6 33 

Cauer, P. 40, n. 213 

Celsus 

Med. 4, 7 73; 107; 122 

4, 8 73, n. 42 

Charisius 1, 105, 9 77, n. 62 

Cicero 

In Caec. 57 8, n. 38; 24, n. 116 

In Cat. 3, 9 48, n. 259; 

119, n. 283 



De Div. 1, 46-47 1, n. 6; 

2, n. 7; 4, n. 20 

1, 90-91 1, n. 6; 4, n. 20 

1, 132 18, n. 90; 30 

2, 33; 50; 84 30, n. 159 
2, 87-99 14, n. 62; 30, n. 158 
2, 98 18 

De Fato 15 30, n. 158 

De Fin. 5, 87 1, n. 6; 4, n. 20 
De Invent. 2, 161 12 

2, 165 11, n. 46 

De Leg. 2, 26 1, n. 6; 4, n. 20 

2, 28 67, n. 26; 68, n. 28 

De Nat. Deor. 1, 43 4, n. 20 

2, 72 11, n. 46 

3, 48 24, n. 118 
3, 63 67, n. 26 

De Re Pub. 

apud Augustinum, C. D. 

1, 23-26 30 

2, 9 14, n. 57 
Tusc. Disp. 1, 37 18, n. 90; 30 

1, 95 30 

1, 108 4, n. 20 
In Vat. 14 38, n. 199 

Claudius Claudianus 1, 77 68, n. 27 
Appius, Claudius Pulcher 18 

Clitarchus apud Diogenem 

Laertium, Vit. Phil., 

Proem., 6 1, n. 5; 2, n. 7 

Collitz, H. and Bechtel, F. 

40, n. 213 
Columella 

De Arbor. 15: 26, 2: 
29, 1 27, n. 141 

R. R. 2, 5, 1 27, n. 141 

2, 9, 9 9, n. 39 
2, 10, 10; 10, 12; 

15, 9 27, n. 141 

2, 16, 1; 18, 2,: 5, 11, 2 

27, n. 141 
6, 5, 4 73, n. 42 

6, 17, 6 95 



INDEX LOCORUM 



143 



6, 26, 2 

7, 5, 17 
8,5,8 

8, 5, 9; 7, 4 
10, 349-350 

10, 360 

11, 1, 31 



27, n. 141 

64, n. 10 

119, n. 283 

27, d. 141 

9, n. 39 

27, n. 141 

18; 26, n. 134 



11, 2, 11; 2, 52; 2, 85; 3, 22 
27, n. 141 

11, 3, 38; 3, 50 27, n. 141 

12, 16, 1; 19, 3; 43, 2; 

43, 9; 53, 3 27, n. 141 

Companion to Lat. Studies 9, n. 

40; 49, n. 266; 68, n. 27; 

70, n. 33 

Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum 

6, 19, 747 38, n. 199 

7, 999: 12, 3129 67, n. 26 
Cumont, F. Pref. 
Curtius Rufus 3, 3, 10 50, n. 275 

4, 3, 23; 6, 12 50, n. 276 

4, 6, 17 49 

4, 7, 26; 7, 29; 10, 7 50 n. 

276 

5, 1, 22 50, n. 275 

7, 4, 8; 7, 8 50 

8, 9, 33 49; 50 
8, 10,4: 9, 1,34 50, nn. 274, 

277 

Damigeron 

De Lapidibus 9, n. 40 

Daremberg et Saglio 

8, n. 38; 17, n. 80 
Del Rio, M. 79, n. 75 

Dieterich, A. 20, n. 99; 68, n. 27 
Dill, S. Pref.; 14, n. 62; 26, n. 133 
Diogenes Laertius 1, 6 33, n. 172 
Dionysius 

ADt. Rom. 3, 71 24, n. 123 

Dioscorides 

De Mat. Med. 3, 124 24, n. 116 



Elegiae in Maecenatem 

110; 112 8, n. 38 

Elmer, H. C. 71, n. 37 

Elworthy, F. T. 7, n. 30; 71, n. 37 

Ennemoser, J. 48, n. 261 
Euripides 

Orest. 1497 ff. 2 

Fabricius 20, n. 101 

Fahz, L. 32, n. 165; 36, n. 191 

Fay, E. W. 71, n. 37 

Festus 

Angerona 68, n. 27 

praebia 79, n. 71 

striga 41, n. 215 

Julius Firmicus Maternus 18-19 

Foster, W. E. 44, n. 238 

Fowler, W. Warde 7; 16, n. 75; 

24, n. 120; 25, n. 131; 48, 

n. 261; 49, n. 266; 63, n. 8; 

66; 67, n. 24; 68, n. 27; 

80, n. 84; 81, n. 88; 85, n. 

105; 119, n. 283 
Frazer, J. G. 8, n. 37; 9, n. 41; 

10, n. 43; 19, n. 97; 20, n. 

100; 28, n. 143; 40, n. 213; 

62, n. 3; 63, n. 6; 73, n. 42; 

81; 92, n. 122 
Friedlaender, L. 41, n. 214 

Froehner, W. 79, n. 75 

Frontinus 

Strat. 1, 11, 12-14 54 

1, 12, 1-8 54 

1, 12, 2 48, n. 255 

2, 1, 16 48; 54 



Gargilius Martialis 




Med. 33 


96 


Gehring, A. 


1, n. 1 


A. Gellius 




N. A. 7, 6, 10 


17, n. 83 


9, 4, 11-12 


55 


9, 4, 14-15 


56 



144 



INDEX LOCORUM 



A. Gellius (continued) 



10, 12, 1-8 


20, n. 101; 55; 




56, n. 321 


10, 15 


25, n. 124; 55; 81 


14,1 


55, n. 314 


15, 7, 1-3 


56; 119, n. 283 


16, 6, 12 


17, n. 83 


16, 11, 1-3 


24, n. 118; 55; 




65, n. 18 


Gratius 




Cyn. 399-407 


92 n. 123 



Grimm, J. 41, n. 214; 90, n. 120 

Hazlitt, W. C. 87, n. 114 

Heim, R. 9, n. 41; 68, nn. 27, 29; 

70, n. 34; 71, n. 38; 87, n. 112; 

90, n. 120; 100, n. 181; 119, 

n. 282 

Heitland, W. E. 32, n. 170 

Helm, R. 44, n. 238 

Herodotus 1, 101 1, n. 4 

Hertz, W. 41, n. 214 

Hesychius • 

s. v. Mayos 1, n. 5; 3, n. 15 

Homer 

II. 7, 193-196: 11, 740-741: 

12, 254-255 1, n. 2; 19, 

n. 97 
13, 59-60 19, n. 97 

13, 434-435: 14, 214-221: 
15, 321-323 1, n. 2; 19, 

n. 97 

15, 594 19, n. 97 

16, 235 1, n. 2; 19, n. 97 
18, 418 19, n. 97 

23, 135-136 1, n. 2 

24, 343-345 1, n. 2; 19, n. 97 
Od. 10, 213 8, n. 38; 24, n. 116 

10, 235-240 1, n. 2; 24, n. 116 
10, 276 8, n. 38; 24, n. 116 

10, 290-292; 317; 326-328 

24, n. 116 
19, 457-458 70 



Horace 

Ars Poet. 338-340 39, n. 202 

417 68, n. 27 

Carm. 1, 11, 1-3 39 

1,27,21-22 4,11.21; 20, n. 

98; 36 and n. 193; 39 

Epist. 1, 1, 32-36 39 

1, 2, 23-26 8, n. 38 

1, 14, 37-38 39 

2, 2, 208-209 20, n. 98; 39 
Epod. 1, 29-30 24, n. 118 

3, 12 8, n. 38 
5 38 
5, 45 20, n. 98 
5, 67-68 8, n. 38 

Sat. 1, 5, 99-101 39, n. 203 

1, 6, 113-114; 8, 15-70 39 

1, 8, 30-33; 8, 43-44 10, 

n. 43 

1, 9, 29-34 39, n. 202 

Howerth, I. W. 16, n. 75 

Huvelin, P. 14, n. 07 

Hyginus 

Astron. 2, 14 65, n. 16 

Fab. 22 9, n. 40 

125 8, n. 38; 24, nn. 116, 118 

127 24, n. 118 



Ian, L. 



25, n. 132 



Jahn, O. 25, n. 131; 67, n. 23; 

77-78, 
n. 64; 80, n. 78; 81, n. 91 
Jerome 

Chron., Ann. Abr. 1972 18, n. 87 

" 2105 15, n. 70 

De Vir. Illustr. 58 18, n. 94 

Jevons, F. B. 62, n. 3; 77 

Julius Capitolinus 

Ant. Pius 3, 1 52, n. 294 

Gord. Tres 20, 1 52, n. 293 

Helv. Pert. 1, 3: Marc. 
Anton. 19, 3 52, n. 293 



INDEX LOCORUM 



145 



Marc. Anton. Phil. 4, 3 52, n. 

294 
Marc. Aur. 19, 3 15, n. 68 

Max. Duo 30, 1 ff. 52, n. 294 
Julius Modestus 

apud Macrobium 1, 10, 9 68, 

n. 27 
Julius Paulus 

Sent. Recept. 5, 23, 5 14, n. 57; 

15, n. 72 
5, 23, 15-18 15, n. 72 

Justinus 1, 1, 9 19, n. 96 

36, 2, 7 5 

Juvenal 3, 42-43 40, n. 211 

3, 77 75, n. 52 

5, 164 81, n. 86 



Laurentius Lydus, loan Ties 

De Mens. 1, 14 18, n. 92 

De Ostent. 27 18, n. 85 

45 17, n. 84 

Leland, C. G. 17, n. 

82; 63, n. 6; 7, n. 30; 

69, n. 32; 123, n. 301 

Livy 

" 1, 20, 7 48 

1, 27, 7 68, n. 27 

1, 31, 5-8 48-49 

1, 36, 4 24; 49 

5, 21, 3-5; 22, 3-6; 40, 8 49 

7, 3, 3-9 49; 66, n. 23 

8, 18, 4-13: 9, 28, 6 

49; 66,n.23 



6, 133-134 




40 


9, 34, 12 




49, n. 266 


6, 443; 553-554; 


569-59: 


25, 1, 6-12 




14 






40, n. 211 


26, 5, 9 




49 


6, 610-612 




20, n. 98; 


27, 37: 31,12,5-9 119, n. 283 






40, n. 211 


39, 16 




14 


7, 112; 194-196; 


199-20( 


Lucan 










40, n. 211 


1, 639 ff. 




18, n. 88 


9, 33: 10, 94 




40, n. 211 


3, 223-224 

4, 555-556 




4, n. 20 
8, n. 38 


Keil, H. 




71, n. 38 


5,396 




9, n. 39 


Kiesewetter, K. 




20, n. 100 


6, 430-830 


20, 


n. 98; 31 


Kroll, W. 




73, n. 42 


6,431 




4, n. 21 


Kropatscheck, G. 




77, n. 61 


6,434 
6, 440 




32 
4, n. 21 


Lactantius 






6, 441-442 




8, n. 38 


Inst. Div. 1, 20, 11 




68, n. 27 


6, 44.5-451 




12 


1,20,36 




46 


6, 450 




4, n. 21 


5, 3, 7 42, n. 225; 


44. n. 237 


6, 492-499 


12, 


n. 50; 32 


Lampridius 






6, 523-525 




32 


Alex. Sever. 27, 5: 


44, 


4 


6, 527-52S 


12, 


n. 50; 32 






52, n. 293 


6, 577 




4. n. 21 


Diad. Anton. 5, 4 




52, n. 293 


6,598-601; 


605-607 


12, n. 50 


Heliog. 8, 2 




53 


6,672 




9, n. 39 


9,1 




52, n. 293 


6, 686-687 


10] n. 1 


Lang. A. 8, n. 


37; 


10, n. 43; 


6, 730-749 




12 


28, n. 147; 57, n 


33S: 62, n. 3 


6, 767 




4, n. 21 








8,220 




4, n. 20 



146 



INDEX LOCORUM 



Lucian 

Demonax 23: Luc. sive As. 4 2 
Makrob. 4 1, n. 5 

Lucilius 

62-63 37 

484-489 38 

575-576; 1201-1202 37 

Lucretius 

1, 127-135 30 

4, 708-719 29 

5,901-921: 6, 379 ff. 30 

Luders, O. 40, n. 213 



Mackail, J. 


W. 


43 


Macrobius 






Sat. 1, 6, 


17; 6, 19 


80 


1, 10, S 


I 


68, n. 27 


Magnus, H 




65, n. 16 


Marcelius Empiricus 




Introd. 


2 


16, n. 78 


1,41 




84 


1,50 




119, n. 283 


1, 54. 




64, n. 12 


1,65 




64, n. 10 


1,78 




119, n. 283 


1,85 


84, n. 103; 121 


1, 100 




119, n. 283 


2,4 




64, n. 10 


2, 7 




84, n. 103 


4, 27 




64, n. 10 


7,7 




119, n. 283 


8,27 




79; 84 


8,29 




69, n. 30 


8,41 




86 


8,45 




84 


8,49 


73,n.42; 


85; 119, n. 283 


8,50 




80, n. 82; 85 


8, 52 




64, n. 12 


8,57 




79, n. 75 


8,58 




79, n. 75; 85 


8,59 




79, n. 75 


9,2 


• 


119, n. 283 


10,35 




90 



12,46 


107 


14,30 


79, n. 74 


14,52 


108 


14,65 


119, n. 282 


14,66 


64, n. 10 


14,68 


79, n. 74 


15,9 


119, n. 283 


15,52 


91 


15,67 


87 


15, 101 


119, n. 282 


16,21 


64, n. 10 



16, 26; 32; 40; 64; 86 

119, n. 283 

19, 52 73, n. 42 

20, 35 119, n. 283 

20, 106 73, n. 42 

21, 8 79, n. 74 
23, 29 69, n. 30 
23, 35 64, n. 10; 73, d. 42 
23, 50 64, n. 10 
25, 11 64, d. 12 
25, 13-14 69, n. 30; 73, n. 42 
25, 21 119, n. 283 

25, 35 64, n. 10 

26, 25 73, n. 42 
26, 41 119, n. 282 

26, 129-130 88, n. 116 

27, 42; 47; 52 119, n. 283 
27, 84 88 

27, 87 73, n. 42 

28, 21 87, n. 114 
28, 40 73, n. 42 
28, 45 9, n. 39; 88; 109 

28, 48: 29, 13 88 

29, 23 69, n. 30 
29, 26 79, n. 75 
29, 35 87, n. 114; 120, n. 292 
29, 45 73, n. 42 

31, 33 79, n. 75 

32, 18; 19; 20 89 
32, 21 89, d. 119 
34, 8 109 
34, 34 88 



INDEX LOCORUM 



147 



34, 67 119, n. 283 

36, 26-28 9, n. 39; 87, n. 114 

Marcus Antoninus, 5, 7 40, n, 213 

Marett, R. R. 69, n. 30; 78, n. 65 

Marquardt, J. 67, n. 23; 77, 

n. 64; 80, n. 78 

Martial 9, 29, 9-10 20, n. 98; 35, 

n. 186; 37, n. 196 

12, 57, 15-17 37, n. 196 

Maury, A. 2, n. 10; 15, n. 74; 20, 

n. 99; 22, n. 110; 83, n. 102 

Mayor, J. B. 11, n. 46 

Meyer, L. 1, n. 3 

Michel, C. 40, n. 213 

Minucius Felix 

Octav. 

26, 10-11 6, n. 29; 20, n. 99; 

29, n. 150 

27,29 29, n. 150 

Mommsen, Th. 

15, n. 74; 119, n. 283 
Monceaux, P. 

42, n. 225; 44, n. 237 
Moore, C. H. 38, n. 199 

Morgan, M. H. 40, n. 213 

Naevius 

apud Varronem, L. L.7, 107 79 

Nemesianus, Cyn. 44 24, n. 116 
New International 

Encyclopaedia 7; 19, n. 96 

Nicolson, F. W. 71, n. 37 

Nonius Marcellus 46, u. 248 



Ogle, M. B. 


64, n. 10 


Oliphant, S. G. 


57, n. 326 


Ovid 




Amor. 1, 8, 5 


4, n. 21 


1, 14, 3&-40 


20, n. 98 


3, 6, 17-18 


36 


3, 7, 27-28 


20, n. 98 


3, 7, 29 


10, n. 43 



Ars. Amat. 2, 99-100 20, n. 98 
Fasti 2, 571-582 119, n. 283 

3, 255-258 66, n. 22 

4, 549-554 65; 119, n. 283 

4, 727 119, n. 283 

5, 429-444 25; 37, n. 195 

6, 141-168 12, n. 53; 41, n. 

215; 63-64; 119, n. 283 
6, 180-182 109 

6, 746-754 65; 119, n. 283 
Heroides 

6, 91-93 8, n. 38; 10, n. 43 
Med. Fac. 36 4, n. 21 

Met. 5, 549-550 9, n. 39 

6, 432-434 9, n. 39 

7, 98; 149 8, n. 38 
7, 152-156; 188-198 119, n. 

283 
7, 22^-233 8, n. 38 

7, 255-257 12, n. 53 

7, 261 ff. 119, n. 283 

7, 264-265 8, n. 38 

9, 297-315 62 

10, 452-543 9, n. 39 

14, 14-22; 34 8, n. 38; 

24, n. 116 

14, 42-58 8, n. 38; 24, n. 116; 

119, n. 283 

14, 266-270 8, n. 38; 24, n. 116 

14, 346-348 24, n. 116; 

24, n. 118 
14, 355-360 24, n. 116 

14, 365-366 101, n. 183 

14, 387 119, n. 283 

14, 403 24, n. 116 

15, 791 9, n. 39 
Rem. Amor. 249 20, n. 98 

263 8, n. 38; 24, n. 116 



Pacuvius 
Frag, ex incert. fab. 39 



24, n. 116 



148 



INDEX LOCORUM 



Palladius 

R. R. 1, 35, 1-2 9, n. 39 

Palmer, A. 11, n. 46 

Papyrus Parisiensis 2006 20, n. 99 
Pauly-Wissowa 77, n. 62; 80, n. 78 
Pausanias 

2, 25, 10 40, n. 213 

Peck, H. T. 42, n. 230; 43, n. 235 
Pelagonius 

7, 39 73, n. 42 

Persius 

2, 31-34 39 

5, 31 81, n. 87 

5, 179-188 39, n. 210 

Peter, H. 46, n. 251 

Petronius 

30; 38; 39 41 

44 40 

60 81, n. 87 

62 40-41 

63; 64; 126 41 

Pindar 

^Pyth. 3, 51 70, n. 34 

Sextus Placitus Papyriensis 

17, 12; 19 76 

Plato 
Ale. 121E-122A 1, n. 6; 3 

Repub. 572E 2 

45, n. 242 
Sympos. 202E 4, n. 19; 

Plautus 
Amphit. 323; 455-458; 605; 
777; 782-783; 845-846 29, n. 

148 

Act. 4, fragg. 7, 10; 

frag, incert. 47 29, n. 148 

1043 20, n. 98 

Capt. 550-555 71 

Cure. 397 29, n. 148 

Epid. 639-640 81, n. 91 

Mil. Glor. 430-432; Poen. 

1125-1126; Rud. 1139 29, n. 

148 



Rud. 1171 80, n. 79; 81, n. 91 
Pliny the Elder 

N. H. 

2, 15-16 67 and n. 26 
2, 140-141 57 

7, 15 24, n, 118 

7, 16-18; 19; 32; 36 57 



7, 64-65 




58 


8, 52 




29, n. 151 


8, 80-82 




57 


8, 106 9, 


n. 39; 


119, n. 283 


10, 12 . 




9, n. 40 


10,69 




58, n. 349 


10, 106 




18, n. 86 


10, 151 




58 


11,97 


18, n. 86; 92 


11, 232 




57 


15,77 




24, n. 123 


15, 124 




73, n. 42 


16, 193-194 




58 


17, 265 




59 


17, 266 




58, n. 342 


17, 267 




57 


18, 41-43 




14; 57 


18, 160-161; 


197 


58, n. 344 


18, 200; index auct 


. 19, n. 96 


20,29 




119, n. 282 


20, 31; 69 




96, n. 133 


20, 133-134 




95, n. 132 


20, 171 




119, n. 283 


20, 217 




119, n. 282 


20, 223; 232 




96, n. 133 


21,42 


58; 


119, n. 283 


21, 176 




64, n. 12 


22,20 56, 


n. 320; 


58, n. 344 


22, 52; 60 




96, n. 133 


22,65 




109 


22, 135 




119, n. 283 


23,20 


79, n. 73; 82, n. 93 


23, 110 




106 


23, 130 




91 


23, 156 




119, n. 283 


23, 163 


73, n. 42; 88 



INDEX LOCOKUM 



149 



24, 12 73, n. 42 

24, 47; 63 91 

24, 68 73, n. 42 

24, 82 119, n. 283 

24, 103 73, n. 42 

24, 104 64, n. 12 

24, 133 119, n. 282 
24, 149 58 and n. 341 
24, 156-158 20, n. 100; 
75, n. 50 
24, 160 20, nn. 100, 101 
24, 164 2, n. 7 

24, 170 12, n. 53; 94 
24, 172 58 and nn. 344, 349; 
119, n. 283 
24, 172-176 73, n. 42 

24, 174 107 

25, 10-11 8, n. 38; 10; 24, 

nn. 116, 118; 25; 57 
25, 13-14 20, n. 101; 
56, n. 321 
25, 25 57, n. 332 

25,50 58, n. 347; 59 
25, 106 110 

25, 107 110, n. 224 
25, 115 79, n. 73; 82, n. 94 
25, 126 96, n. 133 

25, 127 59, n. 352 

25, 129 57; 59, n. 352 
25, 145 119, n. 282 
25, 147 24, n. 116 

25, 148 58, n. 346; 
119, n. 283 
25, 163 96, n. 133 

25, 167 58, nn. 346, 349; 73, 

n. 42; 119, n. 283 

26, 18 56, n. 320 
26, 18-20 56; 57, nn. 323, 

331, 332; 73; 75, n. 50 
26, 19 20, n. 101; 56, n. 321 
26, 24 91 

26, 91 89; 91 

26, 93 119, n. 283 



27,57 


56, n. 320 


27,60 


24, n. 116 


27, 89 


87 


27,90 


9 


27, 105 


106 


27, 131 


119, n. 283 


28,6 


20, n. 99 



28, 7 57, n. 331; 74-75, n. 50 
28, 10 70, n. 36 

28, 10-14 56 

28, 10-29 21-23 

28, 12-13 25, n. 127 
28, 13 23, n. 115; 70, n. 35 
28, 14 57, n. 328 

28, 17 57 

28, 18 13, n. 56 

28, 19 34 

28, 20 101, n. 183 

28, 21 47; 70, n. 34; 71, n. 
38; 74-75, n. 50; 
119, n. 283 
28, 22 57, n. 337 

28, 23 58, n. 345; 119, n. 283 
28, 28 58 

28, 29 23, n. 115; 57, n. 329; 

82; 86 
28, 30-33 58, n. 344 
28, 33 119, n. 283 

28, 34 74-75, n. 50 
28, 35 71, n. 37; 108 
28, 35-39 58 

28, 35-46 74 and n. 50 
28, 36 58, n. 346; 75 
28, 37 106; 108 

28, 38 74-75, n. 50; 78, n. 68; 
79, n. 73 
28, 39 80, n. 84 

28, 41 89; 120, n. 291 
28, 42 73, n. 42; 74-75, n. 
50; 82, n. 97; 86-87 
28, 44 106 

28, 47-49 74 

28, 48 89 



150 



INDEX LOCORUM 



Pliny the Elder {continued) 

28, 56 107; 119, n. 283 
28, 59 63 

28,63 67, n. 23; 73, n. 42 
28, 69 20, n. 99; 57, n. 324 
28, 73 106 

28, 77 57, n. 329 

28, 77-80 58, n. 342 
28, 78 119, n. 282 

28, 82; 83 74-75, n. 50 
28, 85 56, n. 320 

28, 85-86; 89-90; 92-106 

57, n. 323 
28, 98 90; 93 

28, 102-106 9, n. 39 
28, 107 93 

28, 111 94; 105, n. 211 
28, 112-118 20, n. 101 
28, 113-118 74-75, n. 50 
28, 114 91; 94; 105, n. 211 
28, 115 9, n. 39; 93 
28, 172 86 

28, 188 57, n. 323 

28, 198 73, n. 42 

28, 199 88 

28, 220 87, n. 114 

28, 228 94 

28, 228-229 9, n. 39; 82 
28, 232 74 

28, 246-247 90 

28, 256 74-75, n. 50 
28, 257 92 

28, 259 108 

28, 261; 262 74-75, n. 50 

28, 263-267 58, n. 344 

29, 14 72, n. 38; 73, n. 43 
29, 53 57, n. 323 
29, 59 57, n. 324; 58, n. 341 
29, 64 93 
29, 66 57, n. 324; 79, n. 73 
29, 67 58, n. 344; 59 
29, 68; 76 57, n. 323 
29, 77 59, n. 355 



29, 81-82 


9, n. 39; 56, n. 




320; 57 


29, 81-83 


82, n. 98 


29,83 9, 


n. 39; 64, n. 10; 78; 




79,n.73 


29,85 


75, n. 50; 90 


29,91 


12, n. 53; 64, n. 12 


29, 99 


9, n. 39 


29, 100 


119, n. 283 


29, 109 


73, n. 42 


29, 128 


86; 106 


29, 130 


73, n. 42 


29, 131 


9, n. 39 


29, 138 


18, n. 86; 57, n. 324 


30, 1 


56, n. 320 


30, 1-2 


5 


30, 1-28 


56, n. 320; 57, n. 323 


30, 3 ff . 


17, n. 79 


30,5 


1, n. 2 


30,8 


2, n. 10 


30, 9-10 


56, n. 320 


30, 12 


14; 21 


30, 13 


22 


30, 14 


12 


30, 17 


58, n. 349 


30,33 


107 


30, 35; 44 


; 51 119, n. 283 


30,63 


88 


30, 64 9, 


n. 39; 82, n. 98; 109 


30,76 


109 


30,82 


64, n. 10; 78 


30,83 


79, n. 73 


30,84 


18, n. 86 


30,91 


93 


30,98 


74; 93, n. 126 


30, 100 


92, n. 124 


30, 101 


119, n. 283 


30, 102 


73, n. 42 


30, 103 


75, n. 50 


30, 104 


94, n. 130 


30, 106 


73, n. 42 


30, 108 58, n. 349; 119, n. 283 


30, 125 


90 



INDEX LOCORUM 



151 



30, 138 


79, n. 73 


30, 143 


58, n. 344 


30, 144 


9, n. 39 


32,24 


59, n. 355; 92 


32, 37 


107 


32,41 


73, n. 42 


32,44 


59, n. 355 



32, 49 56, n. 321; 57, n. 323 
32, 74 59, n. 355 

32, 92 58, n. 349 

32, 115 119, n. 282 

32, 137 93 

33, 8 57, n. 339 

33, 10 80, n. 85 

34, 151 64, n. 10; 73, n. 42; 

119, n. 283 
36, 100 58, n. 348 

36, 141; 142 9, n. 40 

36, 151 9, n. 40; 90 

37, 50 79, n. 73; 92 
37, 50-51 82 
37, 51 88, n. 116 
37, 54 9, n. 40 
37, 114 92 
37, 118 9, n. 40; 56, n. 320; 

57; 79, n. 73 
37, 124 9, n. 40 

37, 133 19, n. 96; 57, n. 324 
37, 135 9,n.40; 57, n. 324; 59 
37, 142 9, n. 40; 57, n. 324; 
58, n. 344; 59, n. 353 
37, 143 9, n. 40 

37, 144 9, n. 40; 57, n. 324 
37, 145 9, n. 40; 92 n. 123 

37, 147 9, d. 40 

37, 150 19, n. 96 

37, 153; 155 9, n. 40 

37, 155-156 57, nn. 323, 333 
37, 156 9, p.. 40 

37, 157; 159 19, n. 96 

37, 160; 162 9, n. 40 

37, 164 9, n. 40; 56, n. 320 
37, 164-165 57, n. 333 



37, 165 9, n. 40; 57, n. 323 

37, 168 9, n. 40 

37, 169 9, n. 40; 56, n. 320; 

57, nn. 323, 333, 334 

37, 172; 176 9, n. 40 

37, 178 75, n. 50 

37, 185 9, n. 40 

37, 192 9, n. 40; 

57, nn. 323, 333 

37, index auctorum 19, n. 96 

Pliny the Younger 

Epist. 1, 18 52, n. 291 

Plutarch 

Rom. 12 18, n. 92 

De Superst. passim 11, n. 46 

Pomponius Mela 

2, 120; 121 24, n. 118 

Porphyrio 

on Horace, Sat. 1, 5, 65 80, n. 81 
Propertius 

1, 12, 9-10 35 

2, 1, 51-56 35 
2, 1, 53; 1, 54; 4, 7 8, n. 38; 

24, n. 116 
2, 4, 7-8 35, n. 190 

2, 28b, 35-38 35, n. 185 

3, 3, 47-50; 6,25-34 35 

3, 12, 27 8, n. 38 

4, 5, 1-18; 7, 37; 7, 72 35 
Prudentius 

Hamart. 220 68, n. 27 

Pseudo-Aero 

on Horace, Sat. 1, 5, 65 81, n. 87 
Pseudo-Apuleius 

De Med. Herb. 4, 7 96, n. 133 
19, 4; 24, 1; 91, 2 76 

Pseudo-Asconius 

Verr. p. 199 80, n. 81 

Pseudo-Pliny 

1, 17 87 

2, 18 88, n. 116 
2,21 73, n.42; 88, n. 117; 89, 

n. 118 



152 



INDEX LOCORUM 



Pseudo-Pliny (continued) 

2, 38 88 

2, 45 88, n. 116 

2, 54 119, n. 282 

Pseudo-Quintilian 

10, 15; 19 6; 12, n. 50 

10 passim 4, n. 21 

Pseudo-Vergil 

Ciris 369-377 119, n. 283 

374 4, n. 21 

Purser, L. C. 43, n. 231; 44, n. 

238 

Rohde, E. 20, n. 97 

Roscher, W. H. 63, n. 8; 67, n. 26; 
68, n. 27; 81, n. 87 
Rose, H. J. 32, n. 170 

Rose, V. 76, n. 57 

Rutilius Namatianus 

1, 525 24, n. 116 



Sallust 




BeU. Cat. 47, 2 


48, n. 259 


Saserna 




apud Varronem, R. R 




1, 2, 27 


72 


Schmeisser, G. 


18, n. 91 


Scribonius Largus 




16 73, n. 42; 


119, n. 283 


152 


73, n. 42 


163 


95 


171 


82, n. 97 


172 


9, n. 39 


Seneca 




Apoc. 6 


67, n. 26 


Here. Fur. 693 


68, n. 27 


Here. Oet 




452-472 


30 


465-466 


20, n. 98 


467 


4, n. 21 


523-533 


30, n. 161 


525 


20, n. 98 


566 


30, n. 161 



Medea 

269-270 8, n. 38 

271 12, n. 50 

465-476; 575-578; 670-739 

30, n. 161 
733 9, n. 39 

752-811 30, n. 161 

771-772 119, n. 283 

790-792 20, n. 98 

817-842 30, n. 161 

Nat. Quaest. 

I, 1, 34 31, n. 163 
4, 7, 2 13, n. 56 
4b, 6-7 31 
4b, 7, 2-3 23, n. 115 
7, 1, 2 31, n. 163 

Oed. 

559-573 30, n. 161 

Phaed. 

420-421 30, n. 161 
420-422 20, n. 98 

790-792 30, n. 161 
791 20, n. 98 

De Superst. 31, n. 163 

Serenus Sammonieus 

Lib. Med. 

306 73, n. 42 

410-411 73, n. 42; 76, n. 54 
439-443; 482-484; 609- 
612; 651-655; 907; 916- 
918; 925-931 76, n. 54 

927-931 83, n. 101 

935-946 76, n. 54 

942 92, n. 123 

1003-1005 76, n. 54 

1031-1032 92 

Servius 

ad Aen. 4, 493 13 

II, 787 28, n. 147; 47, n. 

251 

ad Eel. 8, 99 13, n. 56 

Smith, K. F. 35, n. 186; 

41, n. 214 



INDEX LOCORUM 



153 



Solinus 

2, 26 28, n. 147 

2, 29 66, n. 19 
33, 20 92 
37, 15 90 

Sophocles 

Oed. Tyran. 387 2, n. 11 
Sotion 

apud Diogenem Laertium, 

1, 6, Proem. 6 33, n. 172 
Spartianus 

Carac. 5, 7 15; 52-53; 83 

5, 8 76, n. 55 

Did. Jul. 7, 1 52, n. 294; 

4, n. 21 

7, 9-10 52 

7, 10 120, n. 291 

Geta 2, 6; 3, 1 52, n. 293 

3, 2 ff. 52, n. 294 
Hadrian 2, 4; 16, 10 52, n. 293 

25, 1-4 76 
Pescen. Nig. 9, 5-6 52, n. 293 

Sever. 1, 6 ff. 52, n. 294 

2, 8-9 52, n. 293 

3, 4 52, n. 294 

4, 3; 15, 5 52, n. 293 
Statius, 

Theb. 3, 140-146 20, n. 98 

3, 510-512 9, n. 39 
3, 557-559: 4, 504 20, n. 98 

Story, W. W. 7, n. 30 

Strabo 

5, 234 24, n. 118 
16, 762 1, d. 5 

Sturtevant, E. H. 39, n. 202 
Suetonius 

Aug. 6 51 

31 15 

90 52 

92 51 and n. 287 

94 51, n. 286 

94, 5 18, n. 88; 52 

Caes. 32 48 



59 47; 51, n. 286 

81 51, n. 286 

88 51, n. 287 

Cal. 57 51, n. 286 

57, 2 52, n. 288 

Claud. 

1, 2; 22; 29, 3; 46 51, n. 286 

Domit. 14, 1 52, n. 288 

Nero 6, 4 52 

34, 4 12, n. 52; 52, n. 290 

36 52, n. 288 

56 51, n. 287; 52, n. 292 

Otho4, 1; 6, 1 ' 52, n. 288 

Tiber. 69 52, n. 288 

72 51, n. 286 

Vespas. 7 52, n. 290 

Vitel 2, 4 52, n. 290 

14, 4 15; 52, n. 288 

Suidas 

s. vv. yorjTela and fxayeia 2, n. 8; 

4, n. 19 
Symmachus 

Epist. 1, 47, 1 24, n. 116 

Synesius 

Epist. ad Diosc. 20, n. 99 



Tacitus 

Ann. 1, 28 51 

2,27 4, n. 21; 50, n. 278 

2, 27-28 50 

2, 27-32 51 

2, 32 4, n. 21; 15; 50, n. 278 

2, 69 50, n. 280; 57 

3, 13 50, n. 280 

3, 22 50, n. 278 

4, 22; 52 50, n. 280 
4, 58: 6, 20-21; 22 50, n. 278 
6,29 4, n. 21; 50, n. 280 
12, 22 4, n. 21; 50, nn. 

278, 280 
12, 52 15; 50, n. 278 
12, 65 50, n. 280 



154 



INDEX LOCORUM 



29, n. 149 



Tacitus (continued) 
12, 68: 14, 9 
16,31 
Hist. 1, 22 
2,50 
2,78 
4,81 
L. Tarutius Firmanus 
Terence 

Phorm. 705-710 
Tertullian 

Apol. 40 40, n. 213 

Ad Nat. 2, 11 46, n. 245; 68, n. 27 

Teuffel, W. S. 18, n. 91; 19, n. 95; 

42, n. 225; 44, n. 237; 44, n. 

238; 49, n. 272; 51, n. 281 

Theocritus 

2, 21; 28-29 10, n. 43 
Theodorus Priscianus Physicus 

3, p. 250 67, n. 26 

4, p. 313 89, n. 119 
Theodosian Code 

lib. 5, tit, 16, 

nos. 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12 15 

Theophrastus 

Charact., De Superst., fin. 71, 

n. 37 
Hist. Plant 
9, 15, 7 3, n. 18 

19, 15, 1 24, n. 119 

Thesaurus Linguae Latinae 

s. v. Anger ona 68, n. 27 

s. v. bulla 80, n. 78 

Thorndike, L. 19, n. 95; 56, n. 

319; 59; 74, n. 50 

TibuUus 

1, 2, 41-64 34 

1, 2, 51 8, n. 38 

1, 2, 53-56 119, n. 283 

1, 5, 9-14 34 

1, 5, 41-44 35 

1, 5, 41-60 34 

1, 8, 5-6 35 



1, 8, 17-24 34 



50, n. 


278 


1, 8, 23-24 35, n. 182 


50, n. 


280 


2, 4, 55-56 8, n. 38; 24, n. 116 


50, n. 


278 


3, 7, 61-63 8, n. 38; 24, n. 116 




50 


Twelve Tables 21-23 


50, n. 


278 


Tylor, E. B. 8, n. 37; 9, n. 41; 




51 


10, n. 43; 20, n. 97 




18 


Usener, H. 119, n. 283 



Valerius Flaccus 

1, 736-738 20, n. 98 

6, 441-442 8, n. 38 

6, 448: 7, 198-199; 
325-326 20, n. 98 

7, 355-370 8, n. 38 

7, 498-499 12, n. 50 
Valerius Maximus 

1, headings, 54, n. 304 

1, 1, 7 54 

1, 1, exec. Par. and Nep. 5 

54, n. 308 
1, 3, 3 14 

1, 3, 3 exc. Par. 54 

1, 4, 1 54 

1, 4, 1 exec. Par. and Nep. 

24, n. 123 
1, 4, 2 exc. Par. 54 

1, 4, exec. Par. and Nep. 5-6 

54, n. 308 

1, 6, 1-5 54, n. 308 

2, 5, 6 67, n. 26 
5, 6, 2-3 54, n. 308 

8, 7, exc. 2 1, n. 6; 2; 4, n. 20 
8, 11, 1 54 

Vanicek, A. 1, n. 3 

Varro 

L. L. 7, 44 47, n. 251 

7, 97 47, n. 251; 80, n. 84 

7, 107 79, n. 70 

R. R. 

1, 2, 27 25, n. 130; 27; 72; 
119, n. 283 



INDEX LOCORUM 



155 



1, 2, 28 72 
1, 37 27 

2, 9, 4; 3, 9, 12 119, n. 283 
Sat. Men. 

Agatho, fr. 8 9, n. 39 

fragg. 284; 285; 490 40, n.212 

apud Augustinum, C. D. 6. 9 

12, d. 50 
C. D. 7, 21 46, n. 247 

7,35 2,n. 7; 4, n. 20; 17, n. 79 
18, 17 46 

apud Charisium 1, 105, 9 

77, n. 62 

apud A. Gellium, 3, 10 46, n. 249 

apud Lactantiuin 

Instit. Div. 1, 20, 36 46 

apud Nonium Marcellum, 
p. 197 25, n. 125; 46, n. 248 

apud Servium 

ad Aen. 11, 787 28, n. 147 

apud Tertullianum 
Ad Nat. 2, 11 46, n. 245 

Velleius Paterculus 

2, 24, 3 2, n. 7; 4, n. 20; 49 
2, 46, 3 49 

2, 57, 1-3 49, n. 270 



2, 57, 3 
2, 59, 6 
Vergil 

Aen. 4, 483-493 
4, 509-516 

6, 136-155 

6,276 

6, 405-410 



49 
49, n. 270 

24; 28 

24, n. 122; 

28, n. 146 

28, n. 143 

68, n. 27 

28, n. 143 



7, 10-24 
7, 19-20 
7, 189-191 
7, 190-191 
7, 282-283 

7, 750-758 
11, 785-788 

Eel. 7, 25-28 

8, 73-78 

8, 74^75; 80-81 

8, passim 
Georg. . 

3, 280-283 
Vitruvius 

De Arch. 9, Proem. 

Vopiscus 
Aurel 5, 1 ff.; Tac. 



28 

24, n. 116 

28, n. 144 

24, n. 116 

28, n. 144 

24; 28; 66 

28 

28, n 142 

119, n. 283 

10, n. 43 

28, n. 142 

28 and n. 242 

, 14 20, 
n. 101 

17, 1 ff. 

52, n. 294 



Walde, A. 77, n. 62; 80, n. 78 

Weidlich, T. 9, n. 41; 20, n. 101; 

30, n. 160 
Welcker, F. G. 8, n. 38; 70, n. 34 
Westermarck, E. 7-8 

Wimmer, F. 3, n. 18 

Wissowa, G. 24, nn. 118, 120; 

25, n. 124; 63, n. 8; 66, n. 

19; 67, n. 26; 73, n. 42 



Xenophon 

Cyrop. 8, 1, 23 

Zeller, E. 



1, n. 5 
20, n. 100 



VITA 

Eugene Tavenner, the writer of this dissertation, was born 
December 30, 1878, at Parkersburg, West Virginia. In 1899 
he received the A.B. degree from Peabody College for Teachers, 
Nashville, Tennessee. The succeeding five years were spent 
at Columbia University, where he received the A.B. degree 
in 1901, and the A.M. degree in 1903. The years 1901-1904, 
1913-1914 were devoted entirely to graduate study at Colum- 
bia University. During the earlier of these periods of residence 
the writer was appointed University Scholar in Latin and 
President's University Scholar in Latin successively. 

He was Assistant Professor of Latin at Peabody College for 
Teachers from 1904 to 1911 ; and has been Professor of Latin 
and Dean at the Middle Tennessee State Normal School from 
1911 to the present time. He is a member of the American 
Philological Association. 

To Professors James C. Egbert, Nelson G. McCrea, and 
Clarence H. Young the writer wishes to express his thanks 
for their unfailing kindness and inspiring helpfulness; but 
especially does he wish to thank Professor Charles Knapp, of 
whose kindly and very helpful criticisms he has often availed 
himself in the preparation of this dissertation. 



iJtJbRary of congress 

022 005 117 1 



